The City of Manitou Springs, in partnership with the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority (CWRPA), has completed the installation of an in-pipe hydropower system developed by Rentricity Inc., of New York City. Rentricity’s Flow-to-Wire systems capture excess pressure and flow within gravity-fed water distribution pipelines, converting it into clean energy for the electric grid or to be used on the customer’s site. The 75kW site is part of the raw untreated water flow from the Manitou Reservoir Watershed Area which is gravity-fed into the City’s main Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Manitou Springs.
With the use of Rentricity Flow-to-Wire system, specifically designed to handle flow ranges 500,000 to 3 million gallons a day, Manitou Springs hopes to recovery enough clean energy to offset two-thirds of the WTP’s annual electricity cost. The systemis installed in a transparent manner to normal operations before the water goes through the process to remove suspended matter, add disinfection and deliver drinking water to the Mesa and Crystal Hill ground storage tanks high above the city for distribution to residences and businesses.