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DILLON — The town of Dillon is still in the wait-and-see stage of determining what to do about elevated levels of lead in drinking water.
In May, testing mandated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment found levels of lead in excess of the state’s maximum allowable limit at seven of the town’s 20 test sites.
Dillon’s source water is clean and safe to drink, but is considered “aggressive,” which is determined by pH levels, alkalinity, temperature and hardness. Aggressive water is able to leech materials off older fixtures containing leaded solder installed in homes prior to 1987.
Dillon officials said they wanted to add soda ash — essentially baking soda — to the water treatment process to increase pH levels, alkalinity and harness to the water to reduce aggressiveness and leeching of older fixtures.
Any changes to the water treatment process have to go through the state.
Mark Helman, Dillon’s chief water plant operator, said the town has submitted numerous tests and data to the state and is waiting to hear back.
“We’re kind of in a holding pattern until that happens,” Helman said. “It’s just collecting data for the state so they can evaluate. They’ll look at that and respond here soon to give us some direction.