• Test your water for uranium, lead, thallium, antimony, cadmium, molybdenum, arsenic, and chromium. 
• Any type of drinking water or ground water is accepted. 
• Pick up free vials to collect your sample at Fremont Conservation District during regular business hours.
• First come, first serve while supplies last.  

CCAT Hosts pro Bono Water Testing

What’s in your water?

The first-of-its-kind traveling environmental laboratory will give Fremont County residents a rare opportunity to learn what’s in their drinking water and groundwater, one sample at a time. The Board of Directors of Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste, Inc, a Cañon City, CO area nonprofit, announces an opportunity for you to have pro Bono testing for heavy metals in your water.

This Cañon City Water Roundup follows one held in Bernalillo, New Mexico in March. CCAT Directors assisted with that March event in support of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. Both nonprofit community organizations are working together on this effort that hopes to bring similar events to even more communities in the Southwest.

Dr. Michael E. Ketterer, professor emeritus and environmental chemist with Northern Arizona University, recently joined the Board of Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste, Inc (CCAT) to bring this water testing outreach to Cañon City as a part of a broader effort to study contamination linked to the nuclear age and to focus on the uranium milling that caused the Lincoln Park/Cotter Superfund Site.

CCAT together with Ketterer and the Uranium Weapons Working Group under Veterans for Peace New Mexico have coordinated the Water Roundup and will be hosting the Ratcliffe Mobile Community Laboratory for a day-long sample collection, testing and open house Saturday April 25, 2026 from 10am to 4pm, at Gateway Depot Park at 9th and Royal Gorge Blvd, Cañon City, CO.

The Lincoln Park/Cotter Superfund Site is contaminated with heavy metals and radioactive isotopes including elements of uranium, molybdenum, lead, thallium, antimony, cadmium, arsenic, chromium and thorium. These are all elements that can be measured using the lab’s inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICPMS). This state-of-the-art testing device will identify heavy metals and radioactive isotopes.

“We’re giving people direct information about their water,” Ketterer said. “This is about public outreach and helping communities understand potential risks.”

Samples collected and turned into the Lab at the April 25th event will be included in the next round of testing, with results expected as early as late May. Each sample will receive an individual report.

Beyond the data, Ketterer said, the project aims to build awareness about the lasting environmental impacts of uranium mining, milling and nuclear weapons development in the Southwest United States.

CCAT is functioning as the custodian of samples coming in from various communities in New Mexico and Colorado that Ketterer will process anonymously. The ICPMS testing device is typically found in large municipal or commercial laboratories.

“It’s the same technology used by cities to ensure compliance with federal drinking water standards,” Ketterer said.

Cañon City is the second stop for the Ratcliffe Lab on its tour this summer. The hope is to travel to communities and offer monthly events through October 2026. The testing will be especially valuable to residents with private wells in Lincoln Park who may consider putting those wells back into service due to the deepening drought.

Unlike municipal systems, which are required to monitor and report water quality, private well owners are responsible for their own testing and treatment.

“We have given out hundreds of vials and have been taking samples and working with Dr. Ketterer since midsummer 2025,” said Jeri Fry, Co-Chair of Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste, Inc. “We are thrilled to bring the mobile lab here as just the first step in helping people gain confidence in how to live safely within the active Superfund Site we have here.”

 By combining scientific testing with CCAT’s grassroots outreach, organizers hope to empower residents with knowledge – and encourage broader conversations about environmental health throughout the southwest.

“This is something people deserve to know,” Ketterer said. “It’s their water. We will be able to tell some people, ‘You have a problem with arsenic in your water,’ or ‘You have a problem with uranium,’” he said.

In some cases, contaminant levels approached or exceeded federal guidelines. Even when levels fell just below regulatory limits, Ketterer emphasized caution.

“If I see arsenic close to the maximum contaminant level, I’m going to tell people to take it seriously,” he said. “From a personal standpoint, I wouldn’t want to drink that water.”

Lead contamination, he noted, often comes from household plumbing rather than environmental sources, meaning homeowners may need to investigate and address the issue themselves once they have the test information. Any city’s clean water leaves the municipal treatment plant and travels a long way to your tap.

“There’s definitely a need for people to find out what’s in their water,” Ketterer said. “Some people could be drinking contaminated water for decades and not even know it.”

Participants can obtain their sample vial and submission form ahead of the April 25th Open House. Stop by the Royal Gorge Chamber Alliance, 816 Royal Gorge Blvd, or the Fremont Conservation District, 248 Dozier Ave.

For more information on having your water tested or becoming a local point of contact for regional water testing outreach, contact CCAT at jerifry@ccatoxicwaste.org.  

 

Questions? Contact our district office at 719-315-3417 or email us at info@fremontcd.org