Pueblo County, Colorado: drinking water report. Pueblo County in southern Colorado has a population of about 170,000.
Pueblo County in southern Colorado has a population of about 170,000. The Pueblo Board of Water Works draws from the Arkansas River and Pueblo Reservoir, treating water at the Whitlock Treatment Plant. The county's industrial history includes the former CF&I Steel mill (now EVRAZ North America) – one of the largest steel operations in the western United States – and the Pueblo Chemical Depot, which stored and destroyed chemical weapons until its closure in 2023.
The Pueblo Chemical Depot stored over 2,600 tons of mustard agent from World War II until demilitarization was completed in 2023. According to the Army's 2024 closure report, environmental monitoring at the depot identified perchlorate, heavy metals, and energetic compounds in soil and groundwater at multiple sites. The depot's proximity to the Arkansas River means potential migration toward the county's water supply.
The EPA's UCMR5 data shows PFAS detections in the Pueblo system. The Pueblo Memorial Airport has used AFFF firefighting foam, and the depot's fire suppression history adds another PFAS source. A 2024 CDPHE report documented PFAS at levels near the EPA's MCLs at two monitoring points in the county.
Pueblo's water treatment system handles the Arkansas River's variable quality effectively, but the convergence of a steel mill, a chemical weapons depot, and an airport within one county's borders creates a contamination landscape worth monitoring.
Check your water for current data on your area. For PFAS and trace industrial contaminants, reverse osmosis provides broad household protection. Our water filter guide covers systems for multi-contaminant scenarios. Pull your detailed report for historical trends, and visit our Colorado page for statewide context.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Pueblo County, CO.
The EPA places Pueblo County, CO in Zone 1 - the EPA's highest-risk category, where the predicted average indoor radon level is above 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
59% of homes in Pueblo County, CO were built before 1980, and 21% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Pueblo County, CO averages 5.1 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
14 public water systems serving Pueblo County, CO have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 14 water systems serving Pueblo County, CO carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Surface Water Treatment Rule | 6 |
| Stage 1 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule | 5 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) | 5 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | 3 |
| Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule | 3 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.