Dakota Ridge Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Dakota Ridge, Colorado, an unincorporated community in Jefferson County — a major west Denver suburban community (Dakota Ridge is in the Hogback–Red Rocks corridor of Jefferson County — a primarily residential community adjacent to Lakewood and Morrison, at the dramatic interface of the Colorado Piedmont and the Front Range foothills), adjacent to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre (Red Rocks — the naturally occurring geological rock formation amphitheater in Jefferson County — is one of the most iconic outdoor concert venues in the world; the Dakota Ridge area is essentially in the shadow of Red Rocks), a diverse Jefferson County community, and adjacent to the Dakota Hogback (the dramatic north–south-trending cuestas formed by the tilted Mesozoic sedimentary strata exposed at the foot of the Rockies — the geology that gives Dakota Ridge its name) — draws its municipal water supply via Denver Water or Jefferson County water systems. Water hardness in Dakota Ridge measures 52 mg/L — classified as very soft.

Dakota Ridge's very soft supply reflects the Front Range watershed's calcareous-poor Precambrian granite geology and Denver Water's effective treatment. The South Platte River (Chatfield Reservoir) at Dakota Ridge–Jefferson County draws from: the Precambrian Pikes Peak Granite and Idaho Springs Formation (calcareous-poor granite and gneiss — the Colorado Front Range crystalline basement, with essentially no dissolved calcium carbonate). Denver Water's effective treatment produces the very soft 52 mg/L.

With hardness at 52 mg/L, Dakota Ridge residents enjoy very soft water. Denver Water consistently delivers water meeting all Colorado CDPHE and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.