This core mission of the 63rd Water Treatment Facility Campus Electrical and High Service Pump Station Project is to address aging infrastructure to maintain public health and reliable water supply. The project involves two major aspects:
The City of Boulder owns and operates two potable water treatment facilities that supply water to customers. These are the Betasso Water Treatment Facility (BWTF) rated at 40 million gallons per day (mgd) and the 63rd Water Treatment Facility (63rd WTF) rated at 16 mgd.
Initial construction of the 63rd WTF took place in 1969 to provide critical backup supply during times when BWTF is offline for repairs or emergencies. In addition, the facility is required for use of critical water rights from the western slope of the Colorado Continental Divide. Since the 63rd WTF construction, various expansion and improvement projects have been constructed to maintain service and the ability to meet more stringent regulations.
Overall, the facility has provided high-level service to city water customers but is aging and needs repairs. The focus of this project was twofold:
March 2025 - This project has been completed. The finals steps will be through a third party contractor, and focus on site landscaping, irrigation systems and planting. These are on track to be complete in summer 2025.
Image: City of Boulder project team after achieving substantial completion milestone.
New high service pumps following the installation and commissioning.
The public will see no service interruptions. This project was planned, designed, and contracted with a project-specific schedule to prevent impacts to city customers. The vast majority of work will be done in ways that permit the facility to remain in operation. The project schedule includes two primary outage periods of the 63rd facility both of which are off-season, winter-only shutdowns. During these periods and throughout construction all facility outages will be offset by increasing potable water production and delivery through the City’s Betasso Water Treatment Facility.
The cost of planning, engineering design, permitting and construction for the current project is approximately $27M. This project is roughly 10% of the value of the facility overall, which has a 2022 replacement value of approximately $250M.
The station will have a total pumping capacity of 28.5 million gallons per day. That flow rate is capable of filling over 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day. As of 2022, over a typical year, the city consumes an average 16-17 million gallons per day. During hot summer months the city consumes 30-35 million gallons per day.
