How We Keep Our Colorado Hot Springs Water 100% Pure

The water at Iron Mountain Hot Springs is 100% pure mineral water sourced from three geothermal springs. We never add chemicals like chlorine to our soaking pools to ensure your experience is always pure, wholesome, and healing – just like Mother Nature intended.

All the water for our soaking pools originates from one of three hot springs: the Hobo Spring at 103°F, the Gamba Springs at 108°F, and the Redstone Well at 118°F. The water is pumped into our newly installed fiberglass tanks at a rate of about 370 gallons per minute.

Our two fiberglass tanks were custom built just for Iron Mountain Hot Springs. Each is made of Isophthalic Poly Ester Resin and is resistant to mineral buildup, an important factor at a hot springs like ours where thick deposits can obstruct and corrode pipes – something we diligently strive to avoid. An insulated inner chamber helps keep the water at the correct temperature. Water from the Hobo and Gamba springs is pumped into tanks of the same name. Each tank holds 1,400 gallons of mineral water.

From the two tanks, the mineral water is forced through a series of sand filters, flowing from coarser through finer sand. The job of the sand is to collect sediment. While there is nothing in the spring water that needs to be removed, by using filters we are able to enhance the water clarity – providing guests with 100% clear water.

If you were to visit an undeveloped spring in the Colorado mountains, you would notice all sorts of “floaties” in the waters. These particles are benign and are often beneficial. However, at a developed hot springs like Iron Mountain, visitors have expressed a preference for a crystal clear pool experience and our filtration system allows us to deliver that consistently. It’s important to note that the 14 healing minerals dissolved in the water are so small, they pass right through the filters and remain in the water for maximum therapeutic benefit.

After the water leaves the sand filters it travels into the pump house where it flows into 16 PVC pipes, each one connected to one of our 16 soaking pools. Each pipe is named for the soaking pool it delivers water to; for example, the pipe labeled Emerald flows into the Emerald pool. The pipes are fitted with valves that allow the maintenance team to adjust the temperatures of the soaking pools from the coolest at 98°F to the hottest at 108°F.  The team checks the temps every two hours and makes tweaks accordingly. Also, every two hours the water in the soaking pool is completely refreshed or turned over. As for the Redstone Well, the hottest of the three, the water from it flows through a glycol loop heat exchanger to cool it down, it’s then mixed with water from the Hobo or Gamba spring to achieve the desired temperature.

In addition to the filtration system that delivers 100% pure, 100% clear water, the maintenance crew power washes every single tub at least once per week. They arrive for their shift in the dark, long before the first guests pull into the parking lot. Starting at around 5:30 a.m. they powerwash, shop vac, and flush the lines of 2-3 pools per day. It takes a full week to get to every soaking pool.

While Mother Nature does the heavy lifting – providing a natural healing resource along the bank of the Colorado River in beautiful Glenwood Springs – it takes a lot of effort and dedication to achieve a 100% pure, relaxing experience. Now that you know the nitty gritty details, sit back, relax and let the minerals in our hot springs work their magic.

With a special thank you to Mark Feinsinger, Iron Mountain Maintenance Supervisor, for all the technical details about how the filtration system at Iron Mountain Hot Springs works.