We'll tell you what your water actually needs. Even when the answer is nothing.
Empyre Water Co is a family-owned water treatment company in Colorado Springs. We test your water at your kitchen sink, show you your own utility's published report, and install only what those numbers justify — whole-home filtration, reverse osmosis, and softeners where softeners actually make sense.
Colorado Springs Utilities — reported hardness
1.8 grains per gallon
That is soft water. Pueblo is 13.9. Fountain runs 10 to 20. If someone is trying to sell you a water softener in Colorado Springs, ask them for the number first.
Average total hardness, 30.7 mg/L, Pine Valley & McCullough treatment plants. Colorado Springs Utilities Water Quality Summary Report, 2023 data. CSU states hardness varies by treatment plant and does not publish a figure for every plant — which is why we test at your tap.Book your free water test
Family-owned, Colorado Springs. We'll come test your water and tell you the truth about it.
Your address decides everything.
Water treatment advice that isn't tied to a specific water supply is worthless. Below is what each utility in our service area actually publishes about its own water — sourced, dated, and linked so you can check us. Find your area.
Colorado Springs (Colorado Springs Utilities)
About 75% of Colorado Springs' supply is mountain snowmelt collected near Aspen, Leadville and Breckenridge and carried in through the Homestake, Fryingpan-Arkansas, Twin Lakes and Blue River systems. Snowmelt is naturally soft. At the Pine Valley and McCullough treatment plants, Colorado Springs Utilities reported total hardness averaging 30.7 mg/L — about 1.8 grains per gallon. For comparison, Pueblo is 13.9 gpg and Fountain runs 10–20 gpg.
Here is the part nobody tells you. Colorado Springs Utilities states on its own water quality page that hardness “can depend on which treatment plant supplies your water,” and it does not publish a hardness figure for every plant. The Edward W. Bailey plant on Marksheffel Road treats water from Pueblo Reservoir via the Southern Delivery System — a different, harder source than the mountain water feeding the west side. So your address genuinely matters, and no honest company can quote you a hardness number over the phone. That is exactly why we test.
What we usually recommend Carbon filtration and reverse osmosis. A softener is rarely justified on this water — and we will tell you so.
| Measure | Reported | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Total hardness | 30.7 mg/L avg (29.3–33.2) ≈ 1.8 gpg | Pine Valley & McCullough plants only. CSU does not publish hardness for its other plants. |
| Disinfectant | Free chlorine, 0.89 mg/L avg (0.66–1.02) | What most people taste and smell at the tap. |
| Total trihalomethanes | 40.9 ppb avg, range 25.4–62.4 | Chlorine disinfection byproduct. MCL is 80 ppb; system in compliance. |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) | 23.4 ppb avg, range 11.4–42.4 | MCL is 60 ppb; system in compliance. |
| Lead | 90th percentile 5.7 ppb; tap samples ranged 0–35.4 ppb | 2 of 59 homes tested above the 15 ppb action level. Source is household plumbing, not the utility — which means the utility can't fix it and you can. |
| PFAS | None detected | CSU tested for 29 PFAS compounds in late 2024 and early 2025 with no detections above reporting limits. |
| Total dissolved solids | 63 mg/L avg (58–70) | Pine Valley & McCullough. Low. |
Sources: Colorado Springs Utilities, 2026 Drinking Water Quality Report (2025 data) and CSU Water Quality Summary Report (2023 data); csu.org water quality page.
Fountain (Fountain Utilities)
Fountain is the clearest hard-water case in our service area, and the City says so itself. Fountain publishes recommended water softener settings on its own website: 165 ppm (10 grains) in winter, 350 ppm (20 grains) in summer. The swing happens because Fountain runs surface water from Pueblo Reservoir alone from November through April, then blends in city wells from May through October.
If your softener is set once and forgotten, it is wrong half the year. That seasonal adjustment is part of our service plan.
What we usually recommend This is genuine hard water and it swings with the season. Softener plus carbon, and RO for drinking water.
| Measure | Reported | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Total hardness | 165 ppm (10 gpg) winter → 350 ppm (20 gpg) summer | The City publishes these as softener settings. |
| Source | ~70% surface water (Fountain Valley Authority + Southern Delivery System, both from Pueblo Reservoir); ~30% city wells | |
| PFAS treatment | Wells shut down Oct 2015; granular activated carbon treatment operating since June 2018 | The City states it targets non-detect, below 2 parts per trillion. |
| Uranium | 5.95 ppb avg, range 4.5–8.1 | MCL is 30 ppb; system in compliance. |
| Total trihalomethanes | 57.34 ppb avg, range 32.5–87 | Compliance is calculated on a running annual average; system in compliance. |
| Sodium | 101.5 ppm avg (96–110) | Worth knowing if anyone in the house is on a sodium-restricted diet. Ask your doctor, not us. |
Sources: City of Fountain, Water Department and 2026 Consumer Confidence Report.
Security & Widefield
We are going to be straight with you about this one, because you have been lied to before.
PFAS from decades of firefighting foam use at Peterson reached the Widefield aquifer and was first detected in municipal wells in 2013. The CDC's exposure assessment found residents in this area with PFHxS blood levels up to 6.8 times the national average. That happened, and it is not in dispute.
It has also been addressed. Security Water District brought an ion exchange treatment plant online in April 2021 and reports no detections above 2.0 ppt since. Widefield built its Southmoor treatment plant and its most recent report shows no PFAS detected. We are not going to tell you your water is poisoned to sell you a system. If you want a point-of-use barrier at your kitchen sink anyway, that is a completely reasonable thing to want after what this community went through — and reverse osmosis is the right tool for it.
What we usually recommend Softener plus carbon for the house. Reverse osmosis for drinking water — which is what most people here are really asking about.
| Measure | Reported | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness (Security) | ≈ 274 mg/L ≈ 16 gpg — calculated | Calculated from the District's own reported calcium (85 ppm) and magnesium (15 ppm), single 2023 sample. Neither district publishes a hardness figure directly. |
| Hardness (Widefield) | Not published | We test on site. |
| PFAS — Security | Ion exchange plant online April 2021; none detected above 2.0 ppt since | |
| PFAS — Widefield | Southmoor treatment plant operating; no PFAS detected in the most recent report | |
| Uranium (Widefield) | 8.25 ppb avg, range 4.5–14 | MCL is 30 ppb; system in compliance. |
| Nitrate (Widefield) | 6.14 ppm avg, range 4.5–7.4 | MCL is 10 ppm; system in compliance. |
| Lead (Widefield) | 90th percentile 1.9 ppb, but tap samples ranged 0–270 ppb | One site above the action level. Household plumbing, not the utility. |
| Copper (Security) | 90th percentile 1.1 ppm against a 1.3 ppm action level | Close to the action level. Household plumbing. |
Sources: Security Water District 2025 Water Quality Report; Widefield Water & Sanitation; 2026 Consumer Confidence Report; ATSDR/CDC PFAS Exposure Assessment, El Paso County.
Private wells — Falcon, Peyton, Black Forest, Calhan, Ellicott, Yoder
If you are on a well, every published average in the world is useless to you. A groundwater study of the Upper Black Squirrel Creek basin measured hardness across 50 wells at 7 to 510 mg/L — that is 0.4 to 29.8 grains per gallon, with an average around 6.5 gpg. The spread is the finding.
Well water also brings issues city water doesn't: nitrate, iron, and in the Denver Basin bedrock aquifers under Black Forest and north Falcon, manganese and radon. There is no such thing as a standard well system. There is only a tested well.
What we usually recommend Nobody can tell you anything useful about a private well without testing it. Two neighbors on the same road can need completely different systems.
| Measure | Reported | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 7–510 mg/L (0.4–29.8 gpg), average 111 mg/L (~6.5 gpg) | 50 wells sampled, Upper Black Squirrel Creek basin. |
| Nitrate | Most wells 2.5–7.5 mg/L, but 9 of 148 samples exceeded the 10 mg/L limit — maximum recorded 72 mg/L | The documented contaminant of concern in this basin. Infants under six months are the population of concern; talk to your pediatrician. |
| Iron | Up to 2.8 mg/L; 3 of 43 samples above the 0.3 mg/L secondary standard | Staining, metallic taste, orange residue. |
| Total dissolved solids | 165–842 mg/L, average 287 | 6 of 77 wells above the 500 mg/L secondary standard. |
| Arsenic | 2 of 18 samples detected, maximum 0.01 mg/L | One sample at the 0.01 mg/L limit. |
| Denver Basin bedrock wells | Iron and manganese above secondary standards in roughly 10–20% of USGS samples; radon above the lower proposed standard in over 90% | Black Forest, north Falcon, Monument-area acreage. No uranium exceedances found. |
Sources: El Paso County Groundwater Quality Study, Phase 1 (Upper Black Squirrel Creek Ground Water Management District); U.S. Geological Survey, Quality of Groundwater in the Denver Basin Aquifer System, SIR 2014-5051.
Pueblo & Pueblo West
Pueblo Water publishes its hardness directly: 238.4 mg/L, or 13.9 grains per gallon. That is roughly eight times Colorado Springs' mountain water. This is the part of our service area where a whole-home softener does exactly what the brochure says it does — less scale on fixtures, longer water heater life, less soap.
Pueblo also disinfects with chloramine rather than free chlorine. Chloramine is more stubborn than chlorine and needs a properly sized catalytic carbon bed to reduce, not a basic carbon filter. If you keep fish, chloramine must be removed before the water goes in the tank.
Pueblo West is a separate utility with its own reservoir shares and treatment plant. It does not publish a hardness figure, so we test.
What we usually recommend Softener earns its keep here. Add carbon for the chloramine, and RO for drinking water.
| Measure | Reported | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness (Pueblo Water) | 238.4 mg/L as CaCO₃ = 13.9 gpg | Published by the utility, updated August 2026. |
| Disinfectant (Pueblo Water) | Chloramine | Requires catalytic carbon, not standard carbon. Fatal to fish if untreated. |
| Source | Rocky Mountain snowmelt above Leadville → Arkansas River → Pueblo Reservoir → Whitlock Treatment Plant | |
| Hardness (Pueblo West) | Not published | Separate system. We test on site. |
| Sodium (Pueblo West) | 206.27 ppm avg, range 20.4–578 | Notably high and highly variable. Relevant to sodium-restricted diets — ask your doctor. |
| Gross alpha (Pueblo West) | 6.44 pCi/L avg (5.09–7.79) | MCL is 15 pCi/L; system in compliance. |
Sources: Pueblo Water — Your Water; Pueblo West Metropolitan District 2025 Consumer Confidence Report.
Monument, Triview, Palmer Lake & Castle Rock
North of Monument you are drinking Denver Basin aquifer water, and it behaves nothing like Colorado Springs' snowmelt. Castle Rock Water reports hardness averaging 121 mg/L — about 7.1 grains — with individual results ranging from 67 to 239 mg/L (3.9 to 14 gpg) depending on which of its five plants serves you.
The radionuclide picture is the one worth understanding. Triview Metropolitan District has publicly described installing enhanced treatment at both of its plants specifically to remove radium, after elevated radium at a neighboring district. Its 2021 point-of-entry quarterly average was 4.16 pCi/L against a 5.0 limit. These systems are in compliance and treating for it — but if you want a second barrier at the tap, reverse osmosis is the one that reduces radium.
What we usually recommend Denver Basin groundwater country. Softener plus carbon is usually right, but radium and radionuclides make the drinking-water side matter more here than most people realize.
| Measure | Reported | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness — Castle Rock | 121 mg/L avg (7.1 gpg), range 67–239 mg/L (3.9–14 gpg) | 2024 data, 64 samples, across five treatment plants. |
| Disinfectant — Castle Rock | Chloramine (temporarily switched to free chlorine Feb–May 2026) | Catalytic carbon required. |
| Radium — Triview | Enhanced treatment installed at both plants to remove radium; 2021 point-of-entry quarterly average 4.16 pCi/L | MCL is 5.0 pCi/L; district in compliance. |
| Radium — Castle Rock | 2.8 pCi/L avg (2.3–3.3); gross alpha 9.1 pCi/L | MCLs are 5 and 15 pCi/L; system in compliance. |
| Fluoride — Monument | 1.3 ppm avg, range 0.68–1.83 — naturally occurring, not added | Below the 2.0 ppm secondary standard. |
| Hardness — Monument, Triview, Palmer Lake | Not published | We test on site. |
Sources: Castle Rock Water Quality Report 2025; Triview Metropolitan District — Update on Drinking Water and 2026 CCR; Town of Monument 2026 CCR.
Woodland Park, Cripple Creek, Victor & Teller County
The City of Woodland Park publishes hardness of 60 to 110 mg/L — 3.5 to 6.4 grains per gallon. Moderate. A softener is a judgment call here, not an obvious yes.
What stands out is radium. Woodland Park reported combined radium-226/228 averaging 3.83 pCi/L with a high sample of 5.1, against a limit of 5.0. The system is in compliance — compliance is judged on the average, not a single sample — but that is the tightest margin of any published figure in our service area, and it is the honest reason to consider reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink here.
Woodland Park also runs two separate entry points into its distribution system, so what reaches your house depends on where you live in town. Cripple Creek, Victor and the surrounding acreage are a mix of small systems and private wells — we don't publish numbers we can't source, so those get tested.
What we usually recommend Moderate hardness, but this is the one part of our service area where the drinking-water case is driven by radium rather than taste.
| Measure | Reported | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness — Woodland Park | 60–110 mg/L (3.5–6.43 gpg) | City's own published figure. |
| Combined radium — Woodland Park | 3.83 pCi/L average, range 2.6–5.1 (15 samples, 2024) | MCL is 5.0 pCi/L; system in compliance on the average. |
| Fluoride — Woodland Park | 1.2–1.6 ppm, naturally occurring, not added | The City notes this is slightly above the recommended concentration. |
| Total trihalomethanes | 34.55 ppb avg, range 4.1–47 | MCL is 80 ppb; system in compliance. |
| Lead | 90th percentile 6.2 ppb | Below the 15 ppb action level. Household plumbing. |
| Cripple Creek, Victor, rural Teller County | Not published / private wells | Tested on site. Historic mining district — we test for metals. |
Sources: City of Woodland Park, 2025 Water Quality Report and Utilities FAQ.
Colorado Springs Utilities warns homeowners about companies like ours. They're right to.
On its own water quality page, CSU cautions customers about sales tactics designed to frighten people into buying treatment systems they don't need. We agree with them completely, and it's worth saying plainly on our own website.
The water in this region is, by the utilities' own reporting, in compliance with federal and state standards. Nobody here needs to be rescued. What some homes want is different — chlorine out of the coffee, scale off the fixtures, a barrier at the kitchen tap for lead coming from their own plumbing. Those are preferences and real maintenance issues, not emergencies, and that's how we sell them.
Three things you can hold us to:
We show you the source
Every number we quote about your water comes from your utility's published report, with the year it was measured and a link to the document. If we can't source it, we don't say it.
We'll tell you to buy nothing
If your test comes back and the numbers don't justify equipment, that's the recommendation you get, in writing. We would rather have your referral than your deposit.
The price doesn't expire
No same-day-only discounts, no manager phone call, no pressure to sign in your living room. The quote we write is the quote next week.
Three systems. Only what your water calls for.
Most homes need one or two of these — not all three. The test decides.
Whole-Home Carbon Filtration
Installed where water enters the house. Reduces chlorine, chloramine, disinfection byproducts, and the taste and smell that come with them — at every tap and every shower, not just the kitchen.
Right for: anyone on chlorinated or chloraminated city water who doesn't like how it tastes or smells. That's most of Colorado Springs.
Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water
Under the sink, with a dedicated faucet. The strongest point-of-use barrier available for the things a whole-home filter isn't designed to catch — lead from household plumbing, dissolved solids, PFAS, radium, nitrate.
Right for: almost every home in our service area. It is the single highest-value system for the money in Colorado Springs.
Water Softeners
Ion exchange softening for genuinely hard water. Protects water heaters and fixtures from scale, cuts soap and detergent use, and stops the spotting on glassware.
Right for: Fountain, Security-Widefield, Pueblo, Castle Rock, and many private wells. Usually wrong for: mountain-sourced Colorado Springs water.
Free in-home water test
We test hardness, chlorine, TDS, pH and iron at your kitchen sink while you watch, and pull up your utility's published report on the spot. Takes about 45 minutes.
A written recommendation
Itemized, with the reasoning attached to your actual numbers. Including “you don't need this” when that's the answer. No expiring discounts.
Permitted, licensed install
Permit pulled in your jurisdiction, installed by a licensed Colorado plumber, typically in a day. We test the system before we leave and show you how to run it.
A filter you forget about is a filter that stopped working.
Every system we install has a service interval. Reverse osmosis pre-filters are annual. Membranes run two to five years. Carbon media lasts longer but not forever. Miss those and you're drinking through spent media, which is worse than not filtering at all.
So we build the schedule in from day one. You get reminders before the interval, transparent per-filter pricing, and a technician who knows your specific system. Or buy the filters from us and do it yourself — we'll show you how on install day. What we won't do is sell you equipment and disappear.
Questions we get asked
Do I actually need a water softener in Colorado Springs?
Probably not, if you're on Colorado Springs Utilities' mountain-sourced water. CSU reported hardness averaging about 1.8 grains per gallon at its Pine Valley and McCullough plants — that is soft by any standard, and a softener has very little to do there.
But CSU also says hardness depends on which plant serves your address, and it doesn't publish a number for every plant. The east side is served in part by Pueblo Reservoir water through the Southern Delivery System, which is a harder source. So the honest answer is: we test your tap and tell you. If the number comes back soft, we'll tell you to skip the softener and we'll put that in writing.
What does a system cost?
We quote after the water test, not before it, and we don't publish prices on this website — because a number posted here would be a guess about your house.
What the price actually depends on: what your water test comes back as, which system that justifies, how your home is plumbed, and permit fees in your jurisdiction. Two houses on the same street can differ by a lot.
What you can count on: a written, itemized quote before anything is ordered, so you can see exactly what each component costs and take it to another company if you want to. No same-day-only pricing. No discount that expires when we walk out the door. No manager phone call. The number we write down is the number next week.
Is the water test really free, or is it a sales appointment?
It's free, and it is also honestly a sales appointment — we're a business, and we'd like to earn the job. What it isn't is a high-pressure close. We test, we show you the numbers, we show you your utility's published report, and we give you a written recommendation. Then we leave and you think about it. If your water doesn't need treatment, we say so.
Colorado Springs Utilities says my water is safe. Why would I filter it?
They're right, and we're not going to argue with them. Every water system in our service area reported meeting federal and state standards for the periods we cite on this site. We don't sell fear.
People filter compliant water for reasons that have nothing to do with compliance: chlorine taste in coffee and ice, scale on fixtures and inside water heaters, spots on glassware, how laundry and skin feel, and lead from their own household plumbing that the utility can't control. Colorado Springs' own lead testing found tap samples ranging up to 35.4 ppb even though the system-wide 90th percentile was 5.7. Those are legitimate reasons. Being scared isn't one, and we won't sell it to you.
Do you pull permits?
Yes, on every install, and the plumbing work is performed by a licensed Colorado plumber. Permits and inspection matter for two reasons: an unpermitted water treatment install can create problems at resale, and improperly installed equipment can create a cross-connection hazard. If a competitor's quote is meaningfully cheaper than ours, ask them whether a permit is included.
How often do filters need changing, and what does that cost?
Reverse osmosis pre- and post-filters are typically annual; the RO membrane runs two to five years depending on your water. Whole-home carbon media has a much longer life. Softener resin can last a decade or more.
We build the schedule into a service plan so you're not guessing — see our service plans. You can also buy filters from us a la carte and change them yourself. We'll show you how.
Find out what's actually in your water.
We test at your kitchen sink, walk you through the results and your utility's own published report, and give you a written recommendation. If your water doesn't need treatment, we'll say so and leave.