Water Service
Water Diversion
Raw water, or non-potable water, is water that has not been treated for human consumption. The raw water sources for the District are the West Fork of the San Juan River, the San Juan River main stem and Fourmile Creek through the Dutton Pipeline.
From diversion source to treatment plant or reservoir, PAWSD maintains about 20 miles of raw water pipeline.
Raw Water Storage
To ensure reliable water supplies, water is stored in reservoirs. Reservoir capacity is defined in terms of an acre-foot. Approximately two-thirds of an acre-foot is needed to supply a family of four for one year. The storage reservoirs and current capacities used by PAWSD are:
Four Mile Creek Diversion
Village Lake
| Name of Reservoir | Usable Capacity (AF) |
| Lake Hatcher | |
| Lake Pagosa | |
| Lake Forest | |
| Stevens Reservoir | |
| Village Lake (for raw water irrigation use only) | |
Some raw water sources/storage are not always available. A proper balance of reservoir versus river sources makes us a more drought resistant community.
Water Treatment
After water is collected from its various surface water sources and/or stored in PAWSD’s reservoirs, it is treated at water treatment plants (WTP) to make it safe to drink and to remove unpleasant odors or tastes. PAWSD has three WTP’s that are operated as needed. District One has two WTP’s: Hatcher and the San Juan. As their names imply, the Hatcher WTP (rated at 2 million gallons per day) treats water from Hatcher Reservoir and the San Juan WTP (rated at 3 million gallons per day) treats water from the San Juan River or Lake Forest. District Two is supplied raw water by gravity pipeline from the West Fork of the San Juan River across Jackson Mountain to the Snowball WTP (rated at 2.0 million gallons per day).
Hatcher Water Treatment Plant
Treated Water Storage
Once the water is treated, it is stored for use. Thirteen storage tanks provide storage of treated water with a combined capacity of 4.8 million gallons.
Water Distribution
The PAWSD service area is relatively large (76 square miles) and not densely populated. Treated water is distributed through a network of approximately 290 miles of water mains.
