Commerce City Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Commerce City, Colorado, in Adams County north of Denver — a major industrial and oil refinery community (Suncor Energy Refinery — one of the largest refineries in the Mountain West), home of Dick's Sporting Goods Park (Colorado Rapids MLS stadium) and a large Latino workforce community — draws its municipal water supply from the South Platte River alluvial aquifer and Denver Basin groundwater via the South Adams County Water and Sanitation District. Water hardness in Commerce City measures 155 mg/L — classified as hard.

Commerce City's hard supply reflects the South Platte River Valley's calcareous Front Range Colorado geology. The South Platte River above Denver–Commerce City drains: the Colorado Front Range (Precambrian Pikes Peak Granite and Idaho Springs Formation metamorphic rocks — calcium-poor crystalline terrain) but the river traverses the Denver Basin (Paleocene–Cretaceous Denver and Laramie calcareous formations — calcareous sandstone and shale of the Denver Basin piedmont) and the South Platte Valley Quaternary alluvium (calcareous alluvial deposits from the Front Range piedmont). The Denver Basin calcareous formations contribute moderate dissolved calcium to the South Platte alluvial groundwater, producing the hard 155 mg/L at Commerce City.

At 155 mg/L, Commerce City residents face regular hard water challenges. Scale deposits form on faucet aerators, showerheads, and appliances within weeks — monthly descaling with citric acid solution is standard maintenance. South Adams County Water and Sanitation District consistently delivers water meeting all Colorado CDPHE and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.