The new water treatment plant built as part of the Southern Delivery System (SDS) was officially named the Edward W. Bailey Water Treatment Plant last week at a ceremony attended by more than 100 people.

“This is a momentous day, naming the new water treatment plant after a man who worked tirelessly during his 34-year career at Colorado Springs Utilities to make sure that our community had clean, abundant water for years to come,” said Jerry Forte, CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities. “Ed Bailey and countless others have worked diligently behind the scenes to make sure that our citizens, past, present and future had water for generations.”

The new water treatment facility will be Colorado Springs Utilities’ sixth operating water treatment plant. SDS is a regional project that will deliver water to Colorado Springs, Fountain, Security and Pueblo West; the project is on time and $160 million under budget.

In attendance to honor Bailey, his wife, Thelda, and their family (pictured above) and friends were members of the Colorado Springs City Council, staff of Colorado Springs Utilities and retirees from the organization, who worked during their careers to ensure that the community has an adequate water supply.

Addressing those assembled, Bailey expressed gratitude for the support and accomplishments of others. “I am here because of all of you. This plant is here because of our people’s needs for water, and this plant exists because of all the people who contributed to its existence. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Starting as assistant water superintendent in 1964 and during his career serving as director of Utilities Water Department and director of the Water Resources Department, Bailey was played a key role in key milestones that paved the way for SDS, including:

• Getting the Homestake Project built, which supplies up to 70 percent of Colorado Springs’ water;
• Construction of Rampart Reservoir, Pine Valley Water Treatment Plant, Stanley Tunnel and the Fountain Valley and McCullough water treatment plants;
• Acquisition of majority ownership of Twin Lakes and Fryingpan Arkansas supplies and the Colorado Canal supply;
• Working with others to secure CSU’s rights to local and Arkansas River Exchanges, which served as the foundation of SDS;
• Expanding water supply, delivery, storage, treatment and distribution facilities to accommodate a population that grew from 80,000 people to nearly 350,000.

See video of Ed's career. 

“I had the privilege of working with Ed, and one of his great strengths is his ability to motivate and lead a team,” said Gary Bostrom, former chief water services officer.

“Ed is a great people person and he recognized the valuable role everyone played and inspired people to give their best. Ed recognized “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

The 82,000 square-foot plant utilizes advanced water treatment facility techniques that feature ozone and biological filtration to treat water piped from Pueblo Reservoir. Able to treat up to 50 million gallons per day upon completion of SDS Phase 1 this year, the plant also can be expanded on site to treat up to 130 million gallons of water per day based on future customer demand.  The 100-acre facility houses a 10-million-gallon raw water storage tank, a 7-million-gallon treated water storage tank and a finished water pump station.

The private-sector team building the $125 million facility consists of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., MWH and Carollo Engineers.

For more information about the Southern Delivery System, visit www.SDSWater.org.