Emerging Contaminants#
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) defines "contaminant" as any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter in water. Drinking water may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. Some contaminants may be harmful if consumed at certain levels in drinking water. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. Read more about types of drinking water contaminants from the EPA.
Emerging contaminants are trace concentrations (at the nanogram/L or part per trillion level, or less) of the following types of chemicals:
- personal care products (fragrances, sunscreens, insect repellents, detergents, household chemicals)
- pharmaceuticals (click here for safe disposal options)
- hormone-disrupting chemicals
- pesticides and herbicides
How You Can Help#
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)
Incorrect disposal of HHW contributes to contaminant levels. Signal words on packaging may include poison, toxic, danger, warning and/or caution.
What Not To Flush
Remember, only flush the three Ps: pee, poo and toilet paper. All other items should be thrown in the trash (not the recycle bin).
Pharmaceuticals
Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove these chemicals and compounds, and they can pass through to local waterways and have harmful effects on animals, humans and the environment.
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)#
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of 1,000+ man-made chemicals that include PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many other chemicals. PFAS can be found in water and there is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse human health effects. At this time, PFAS have not been identified in either of the City’s source watersheds, but we will continue to monitor and stay up today on emerging regulations.
Northern Colorado Compounds of Emerging Concern Program#
Fort Collins Utilities monitors emerging contaminants in our source drinking water supplies as a member and funder in the Northern Colorado Compounds of Emerging Concern Program. This is a collaborative monitoring program initiated by Northern Water in 2009 that monitors more than 150 contaminants in source water supplies. Fort Collins Utilities' Source Watershed Program has been involved since inception and helps fund monitoring efforts, along with numerous other entities.
Study sites are mostly located within the Colorado-Big Thompson system, including Fort Collins' Horsetooth Reservoir and Poudre River drinking water supplies.
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule#
As part of its responsibilities under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) runs a monitoring program for unregulated contaminants. The act requires the EPA to issue a list of priority unregulated contaminants every five years to be monitored by certain public water systems. These contaminants may be found in drinking water but are not included in EPA drinking water standards.
Water providers nationwide, including Fort Collins Utilities, test for unregulated contaminants to help the EPA determine their occurrence in drinking water and whether they need to be regulated in the future.
For each Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) cycle, EPA establishes a new list of contaminants and testing parameters. In the current cycle, the EPA is looking for data on 29 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and lithium. In 2025, Utilities is collecting samples and will report them at the link below.
Between April 2019-June 2020, Utilities participated in UCMR 4.
Did You Know?
Ensuring the dryer vent pipe is not kinked or blocked helps your dryer run more efficiently.
Fort Collins Utilities is a community-owned utility that manages four essential services – Light & Power, Water, Wastewater and Stormwater.
The Efficiency Works store sells water- and energy-saving products, including LED lighting, smart thermostats and showerheads.