Olde Town Water Fountain Needs Further Work
The City of Arvada has been working to resolve issues with the Olde Town water fountain related to health and safety issues. Based on the direction of the Arvada City Council that the fountain should maintain the original intent of an interactive feature, staff has developed an approach to do just that.
By way of background, the summer of 2008 was the first full season in which the Olde Town water fountain was running. The popularity and use of the fountain by the public was unanticipated and frankly overwhelming. While some human contact can be expected in these interactive fountains, no one predicted that the Olde Town fountain would become a de-facto swimming pool where hundreds of people visited daily, even bringing beach towels and picnics.
At the same time, state and county public health officials have increased standards for interactive fountains which the Olde Town fountain did not meet. An interactive fountain falls under swimming pool filtration and operation guidelines and the Olde Town Fountain does not meet these guiding principles. In addition, the holding tank in Olde Town was inadequate for the extensive human contact and posed a risk to public health and safety. In particular, the risk of contracting E-Coli, cryptosporidium, and other dangerous and potentially fatal recreational water-borne illnesses was a real concern should the Olde Town water fountain continue to be used in this manner.
After much analysis, the decision has been made to connect the Olde Town water fountain directly to the City of Arvada’s water supply. An 800 foot cast iron water main will be replaced on W. 57th Avenue and a 3” water tap provided. The water used to operate the fountain will be recovered through a Clear Creek water exchange. The water used in the fountain will flow into the storm sewer and returned to Clear Creek, resulting in no net loss of water in the system. From a systems’ perspective, there will be no net loss of water and the water used will be recycled. The fountain will operate with current existing operation controls. The run off from the fountain will connect to a new discharge line which will run to the storm water line located on the far east edge of the plaza. The fountain jets will also be replaced, their size increased so as to avoid the nozzle clogging that occurred last year. Because the water will only come in contact with fountain users once before entering the storm sewer, the Jefferson County Department of Health would not consider it a swimming pool; therefore, no bathrooms or showers will be required.
In June, a new water main was constructed on W. 57th Avenue to connect to the fountain. To date, City crews continue to work on water pressure issues and filtration. While there is no definitive date when the fountain will be up and running, it is hoped that work will be completed by July 31. In the meantime, the City is analyzing various options for fountain operations. Because of the cost of water, electricity, and maintenance, it is not anticipated the fountain will operate for 12 hours a day as it has in the past. One possibility is to have it run for a few hours each day. This issue is evolving.
