The city of Manitou Springs is asking its residents and visitors to conserve water from until Thursday, May 18, due to its water treatment plant’s capacity for treating water being limited due to heavy rainfall.

The city’s water source, French Creek, became high with sediment content because of the runoff from the heavy rains. Under these conditions, the city’s water treatment plant and filters are limited in how much water it can treat. This results in the Mesa Storage Tank not being filled to adequate levels.

This is a common problem for most water treatment plants.

The city wants to reassure everyone that there is not a possibility of running out of water because Manitou has agreements with Colorado Springs Utilities to convey Fryingpan-Arkansas project water to Manitou, if needed.

Tips to conserve water:

  • Turn off sprinklers;
  • Do not wash sidewalks, cars, etc. with water; and
  • Avoid doing partial loads of laundry, dishwashing, etc.