The must-see scenes of 2015

Snapshots of Denver Water’s year, each worthy of being named the

MOST …

Stuck-in-the-muck truck

A section of 60-year-old corroded pipe we were about to decommission sprang a leak in February, creating a marshy mess that trapped a Denver Public Works trash truck. After the truck was towed, we replaced the pipe as planned.

The mud made one thing clear. When it comes to maintaining our system, we’re headed down the right road by prioritizing routine pipe projects.

Heavy-handed pour

Crews poured quite a lot of concrete in November to top off our new 7-million-gallon water tank in Centennial.

We also made progress on a tank project in Wheat Ridge.

Quirky taste test

Brisk, mineral and grassy must make a winning combination, since that’s how Rodale’s Organic Life magazine described our water’s taste while ranking it among the top 10 in the nation.

(Even more, Michael Strahan and Busy Philippscelebrated the contest by slugging water samples, including one from a bottle filled at our own Moffat Water Treatment Plant.)

Daunting paint job

If your plans to paint a room ever seem big, think about this mountain of a task our crews tackled this summer —painting a 1,000-foot-long siphon.

It took 90 gallons and one week to cover the siphon’s chipped exterior with a fresh coat.

Quick-tapping teamsHow long does it take to drill into a cement-lined iron pipe and install a water tap?

Not long, when it comes to Denver Water’s rankings at the 2015 American Water Works Association’s annual convention. Both the men’s and women’s teams finished in the top five.

Glorious rig

This temporary siphon we placed in Dillon Dam’s Morning Glory Spillway was a glowing success.

The siphon kept water flowing out of Dillon Reservoir, so fishing and boating could continue during the months crews worked to upgrade the facilities below the surface.

Cheerful showerhead switchWe like sharing this photo of Rick Alvarado, conservation technician, because he really shows how great it feels to install more efficient fixtures.

If you want a piece of the joy, learn how our rebatescan help you get a shiny new loo and save water at the same time.

Bountiful fills and spills

May showers brought enough precipitation to set new records at three of our reservoirs, and a fourth saw its second-highest in history.

Then we got the thrill of seeing Strontia Springs and other reservoirs spill, which is a beautiful thing when it comes to water supply.

Water-wise weather watchers

May marked the second wettest month Denver-area residents have seen in 40 years. And our customers clearly kept their eyes on the skies instead of watering blindly.

Their water use was the lowest since 1961 — when the population count was half a millionpeople lower.

We weren’t able to get our customers together for a photo to celebrate their water smarts. Their decision to leave their sprinklers off and let May’s rains keep lawns green instead saved more than 2 billion gallons of water.

Watery wizardry

We made magic happen in May, when we deployed this Water Wizard (aka Greg Fisher from Planning) and many other water pros to share their magic and a dose of knowledge with more than 1,200 sixth-graders at the second annual Denver Metro Water Festival.

Beary difficult decisionClosing Waterton Canyon to the public has been a repeat story — one we never feel like telling. Call it a blessing or call it a curse, but this recreational hot spot’s latest issue is its popularity for bears.

As this photo taken by Denver Water engineer Jared Heath shows, the bears this year got just a little too comfortable with the humans.

A-moosing house callPhotos this great only turn up once in a blue moose!

Longtime Winter Park-area caretaker Per Olsson’s shot shows this is the company you keep as a caretaker living and working at Denver Water’s more remote facilities.

Warm wishes and cool plans

It would be easy for anyone from the Denver area to share warm memories of September, the end of the water year. It went down as the warmest in our records, which date back to 1949.

As you live out the rest of your year, know that we’ve started anew — with an even bigger thirst for finding ways to serve you.