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Town of Hot Sulphur Springs, Colo., recognized for improvements to drinking water system

Release Date: 08/18/2011
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Recovery Act funds upgrades to drinking water system

Contact Information: Brian Friel, (303) 312-6277, [email protected], Lisa McClain-Vanderpool, (303) 312-6077

(Denver, Colo. – August 18, 2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today presented an award to the Town of Hot Sulphur Springs, Colo., for improvements to the community’s drinking water treatment system. Brian Friel, coordinator of EPA’s state revolving fund program in Denver, presented EPA’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund award to Mayor Hershal Deputy at a town council meeting.

In 2009, the Town of Hot Sulphur Springs received $3.3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for the design and construction of a new water intake, a pretreatment retrofit, a new treatment system, and a new well and water storage tank. The new system incorporated membrane treatment, an innovative filtration process that prevents giardia and other pathogens from entering the water supply.

The project design, as well as associated habitat improvements, was coordinated in partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The $3.3 million loan was funded by the Recovery Act and included a $2 million subsidy through principal forgiveness. The project award was made through the State of Colorado’s Drinking Water Revolving Fund, which is funded by EPA.

”Hot Sulphur Springs is one of several Colorado communities that have used Recovery Act funds to make innovative, long-term investments in public health by modernizing water infrastructure,” said Friel. “These drinking water upgrades will improve efficiency, reduce operating costs, and ensure safe drinking water for years to come.”

With the passage of Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1996, the U.S. Congress made funds for water infrastructure improvements readily available to communities. EPA’s state revolving fund program provides low-interest subsidized loans for drinking water projects. The program also emphasizes providing funds to small and disadvantaged communities. Nationally, DWSRFs have funded over $20 billion in drinking water projects.

For more on the Town’s drinking water efforts, visit: http://www.hotsulphurwater.com/

For more information on EPA’s drinking water loan program: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwsrf?index.html