Denver Water
Denver, Colorado · 2024 data
Denver is one of the few utilities that publishes a genuine web-native report, not just a PDF — navigable, per-plant, and refreshingly honest about two monitoring violations and a treatment deficiency. Its transparency is top-tier; what keeps it out of the very top is information design, since the data still arrives as conventional tables rather than visuals.
What their report looks like
How it scored, pillar by pillar
Weighted across five pillars for a 81/100 overall. Each note explains why this report earned that score.
Plain-language clarity25% of score
A plain-language Q&A explains the violations and what they mean for residents; most terms are translated, though a few sections still read technical.
A 5/5 looks like: Every term is translated, units are made tangible (e.g. an Olympic-pool analogy), and each section opens with what it means for you.
Contaminant transparency25% of score
Discloses two monitoring violations and a treatment deficiency outright, prints the full UCMR5 PFAS panel, and commits to a 2035 lead-service-line replacement target.
A 5/5 looks like: PFAS, lead and any exceedances are shown with real values against the limits, and problems are disclosed plainly rather than buried.
Information design20% of score
The weak point — strong on disclosure, but the numbers stay in conventional regulatory tables with little visual encoding.
A 5/5 looks like: Contaminant data is visually encoded — charts against limits, multi-year trends, comparisons a layperson reads at a glance.
Digital accessibility & delivery20% of score
A real HTML report alongside the PDF, with jump-link navigation, accordion sections, and per-plant results — close to web-native best practice.
A 5/5 looks like: A responsive web-native report with navigation, charts, and an address lookup — not just a PDF.
Timeliness & completeness10% of score
Recent data and a complete panel including emerging contaminants.
A 5/5 looks like: The most recent data year, with a complete contaminant panel including unregulated/emerging compounds.
marks the cohort average across all 25 reviewed reports.
What it does best
- A genuine HTML report alongside the PDF — jump-link navigation, accordion sections, and per-plant results.
- Discloses two monitoring violations and a treatment deficiency in a plain-language Q&A.
- Prints the full UCMR5 PFAS panel and a lead program with a 2035 full-replacement target.
Where it falls short
The data still arrives as conventional regulatory tables — strong transparency, but little visual encoding of the numbers.
How it compares
Denver Water's report ranks #5 of 25 reviewed utilities, with a report-clarity score of 81/100 against a cohort median of 69. That places it in the top 20%.
See the full leaderboardWhat even this report can't tell you
A report describes the water leaving the plant, not what reaches your tap — your building's plumbing is where lead usually enters.
See Denver's water data
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