Water Treatment

The Water Treatment Division operates and maintains the 16.65 million gallons per day (MGD) Lynn R. Morgan Water Treatment Facility. The facility utilizes an ultra-filtration membrane process to produce a firm capacity of 16.65 MGD, with a peak capacity of 18.9 MGD.

Lynn R. Morgan Water Treatment Facility

The Lynn R. Morgan Water Treatment Facility was put into service in June 2000 with a maximum capacity of 4 MGD:

  • 2001 expanded to 6 MGD capacity
  • 2005 expanded to 9.9 MGD capacity and added a pretreatment process
  • 2018 converted filtration plant to a solids handling process and a powder activated carbon (PAC) system
  • 2020 expanded to 16.65 MGD capacity
  • 2021 added a hydroelectric facility

Raw Water Supply
The Town of Erie’s water supply comes from three surface water sources:       

  • Carter Lake via the Northern Water Conservancy District (NCWCD) maintained Southern Water Supply Pipeline (SWSP)
  • Boulder Reservoir via NCWCD’s Boulder Creek Supply Canal through Erie’s Raw Water Pump Station
  • Gross Reservoir via the South Boulder Canyon Ditch

The SWSP is the primary year round raw water source which is delivered directly to the water treatment facility. Erie’s Raw Water Pump Station delivers water directly to the water treatment facility during the irrigation season. Erie Lake and Thomas Reservoir are utilized for excess water storage. 

Hydroelectric Turbine System
The hydroelectric facility was added in 2021 to generate electricity from the raw water coming into the water treatment facility via the SWSP. The electricity generated is utilized at Erie’s High Service Pump Station to reduce electrical usage and demand charges from Xcel.   

Pre-treatment Process
The water treatment facility utilizes a coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation process to remove a majority of the solids from the raw water prior to filtration. The sedimentation process utilizes inclined plate settlers to settle out particulates which are removed and sent to the solids handling process. 

Ultra Filtration Membrane Process
The water treatment facility utilizes two separate ultra-filtration membrane plants that run in parallel. Both the pressure and the submerged membrane systems utilize polyvinyl fluoride (PVDF) membranes. Membranes are highly effective in removing suspended solids, turbidity, color, water-borne bacteria, viruses and parasites with a nominal pore size of 0.04 microns. 

Solids Handling Process
The original 1971 water treatment facility was repurposed as the dewatering facility in 2017. The facility includes systems to reduce solids disposal costs and sanitary sewer solids loading. The systems remove, concentrate and dewater solids from the water treatment process via a gravity thickener, a solids holding tank and a centrifuge. The dewatered solids are then hauled to the landfill for disposal. 

Potable Water Storage
The Town of Erie has a 4.0 MG and a 1.5 MG finished water storage tank in addition to the 2.55 MG clearwell and wetwell at the water treatment facility that supply water to the four pressure zones. 

Water Division Duties

  • Perform State and Federal Water Quality Testing
  • Manage water projects under the Capital Improvement Program
  • Daily operations and maintenance
  • 24/7 On-Call Operations

Water Quality Report

Fluoride Fact Sheet

Solar Powered Water Circulators

Source Water Monitoring