Colorado community still searching for mysterious water leak that's left people dry for days
No water, contaminated water, boil water orders. There are several problems still unsolved in the Indian Hills Water District in Jefferson County.
Running water has been an issue for the past week for people living in Indian Hills. The tiny water system supplies a few hundred homes in the area and starting last Tuesday, there were troubles with the supply.
"I'm 76 years old. We had to draw water from the well to bring it in," said George Gibson, who grew up on a farm. "And I had no indoor plumbing. Here it is 2024, I got no indoor plumbing."
RELATED: Boil advisory issued for Indian Hills Water District in Jefferson County
Gibson and his wife Christa were forgiving of the district's problems. About a year ago, a water line gave way near their house. "That one was easy to find. This, they can't find. That's the big problem," he said.
The district has been having trouble locating the break and water continues to drain out of the system. Water trucks have been brought in to fill tanks, but somewhere, the water is leaking. Last week's cold is a possible culprit, but there's no way to know for sure. The district says ice and snow mean many of the potentially leaky valves have been difficult to locate and uncover.
Water has been brought in for people to fill jugs at the district's offices.
For those with water, there's a boil advisory, but there are risks for families with young children.
On Sunday night, the district got the green light from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to allow the water, which is higher in nitrates than the allowed maximum containment level, to be used for showering and flushing toilets. Young children six months of age and younger should not consume it. Nitrates can get into a water supply via animal or agricultural waste. It interferes with the cellular ability to carry oxygen.
Christa Gibson was showing up more at her daughter's home in Arvada.
"We're getting to the point that my daughter's probably getting tired of me going down to shower and do everything," she laughed.
In general, local residents are used to a quirky water system in the foothills. The infrastructure is aging and cold can hit hard. There are large tanks where water is held to pump uphill near Marty Richardson. Some days they see leaks.
"There'll be times where they just go empty," he said.
Inconvenient? Yes. But to Richardson, who runs the Dawg Nation Hockey non-profit, helping sick and injured players and their families, in the scale of problems, it still seems minor.
"(We) see a lot of tragedy and see a lot of people going through some really tough stuff," he said. "So for me to not be able to take a shower or have to go over to my brother's to do that, or go get a bucket of water, it's really- honestly, it's not that big of a deal to me."
