Cotopaxi School District RE-3 is a rural public water system serving over 290 children, staff, and visitors from Pre-K to adults. In 2017, the division conducted a sanitary survey inspection and identified a significant deficiency that could have led to a waterborne disease outbreak from the pathogens Giardia and Cryptosporidium. To confirm these findings, we assisted Cotopaxi School with a source investigation and determined that the water source needed filtration treatment.
To help protect public health, the division working with Cotopaxi School:
- Partnered with the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) to provide free engineering services via the CSM Capstone Program which provides senior level engineering students with real world project experience.
- Arranged for CSM student field trips to two different treatment plants near CSM so students could see functioning plants using different treatment technologies.
- Provided $25,000 in funding through the division’s assistance grant program to upgrade the treatment plant.
- Provided compliance assistance to help ensure that Cotopaxi School can conduct the required testing and reporting to maintain compliance with safe drinking water regulations.
- Helped the school to create an emergency response plan that also included joining CoWARN.
Upgrades were completed in 2020 and we will continue to monitor the system to make sure kids have access to safe water. Please see below for photos of their new treatment system.
