Are VOCs present in El Paso County water, and how can I know if my household is affected? Government monitoring of the Colorado Springs Utilities water system, serving El Paso County, found no detections of several common volatile organic compounds (VOCs) above laboratory reporting levels. While this is reassuring, individual household water quality can only be determined by testing your specific supply.
How Seasonal Water-Table Changes Move a Solvent Plume Relative to a Well Screen
Volatile organic compounds, or solvent compounds, such as 1,1-dichloroethane and MTBE, can enter groundwater or surface water from industrial or environmental sources. Seasonal variations in precipitation and groundwater levels cause water tables to rise and fall, which in turn shifts the location of any existing solvent plumes. This means that the concentration of VOCs at a well screen—the intake zone of your water source—can fluctuate over time as the plume moves with water-table changes. It is important to remember that the El Paso County water system uses surface water, which is less susceptible to these subsurface plume movements compared to groundwater wells.
Why Volatility Matters: Showering, Dishwashing and Inhalation Routes Versus Drinking
VOCs are characterized by their volatility—meaning they can easily evaporate from water into air. This property affects exposure routes in a household. Showering, dishwashing, and other activities that aerate water provide inhalation and skin contact exposure paths separate from drinking water intake. Even if concentrations in water are low, these additional routes can be relevant for compounds with higher volatility. While no VOC detections above reporting thresholds were found for the local system, understanding volatility is key to evaluating overall exposure.
The Role of Plumbing Material and Age, Separate from the Source Water
Plumbing materials and their age can interact with water chemistry and potentially influence VOC concentrations at the tap. Some plastics and sealants in household pipes might absorb or release certain volatile organics over time. This is an aspect distinct from the source water quality and requires separate consideration when assessing solvent compound presence in your household water.
How to Judge Treatment Capacity Against the Household's or Facility's Daily Demand
Treating VOCs effectively depends on selecting a system sized appropriately for your household’s water usage. Daily demand, measured in gallons or liters per day, informs how much water must pass through a treatment device to maintain desired contaminant reduction. Ensuring the treatment capacity aligns with or exceeds your household consumption will maximize effectiveness and prevent breakthrough of solvent compounds.
How the Documented Treatment Technology Removes or Neutralises the Constituent
The Pentair VOCs & Industrial Chemicals Filter is designed to reduce a range of volatile organic compounds, including those monitored by the EPA in this region. It works by adsorbing solvent compounds from water, reducing their presence at the tap across inhalation, skin contact, and ingestion routes. This system ships ready to configure for household use, providing a targeted solution for VOCs without altering other water qualities.
What Distinguishes This Problem from the Two Problems Most Often Confused With It
VOCs differ from other water concerns such as bacterial contamination or mineral hardness by their chemical nature and exposure routes. Bacteria are biological and require disinfection methods, while hardness involves calcium and magnesium minerals affecting scale and soap efficiency. VOCs are synthetic solvent compounds with volatility that creates unique inhalation and skin exposure pathways, necessitating distinct treatment approaches.
In summary, although the regional system in El Paso County shows no VOC detections above reporting levels, your household’s specific water conditions can vary. Testing your water is essential to confirm VOC presence before selecting a treatment system. The Pentair VOCs & Industrial Chemicals Filter represents a documented method to reduce solvent compounds and help protect household water quality from these volatile organics.
Where this information comes from
Source: EPA SDWIS public water system record. Sampled 2014-05-12. These figures describe the public water system's record, not the plumbing inside any individual building.
On record: EPA UCMR3 monitoring (2013-2015) for Colorado Springs Utilities (CO0121150), CO: 124 results across 7 listed contaminants, 0 detections above the reporting level; nothing detected above the method reporting level
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