FRIDAY, September 11, 2026|
Photo – A diver enters a water tank – Courtesy City of Rawlins
Divers are carrying out EPA‑mandated inspections of the treated water storage tanks in Rawlins.
On Tuesday morning, Rawlins officials announced that a team of divers were inspecting the city’s low pressure treated water tanks. Treatment Plant Operator Stevie Osborn said the divers are cleaning the tanks and assessing their condition.
As part of its Safe Drinking Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency requires municipalities to regularly inspect their water infrastructure.
While many assume divers are rare in landlocked Wyoming, Osborn said other towns and industries in the area rely on them to check their tanks, making it easy for her to find a reputable company to perform the work.
Rawlins uses Inland Potable Services Incorporated out of Centennial, Colorado to conduct its tank inspections. Osborn said that, unlike ocean or lake work, diving in treated water requires special precautions to avoid contamination.
Osborn said the divers are inspecting the city’s two low-pressure storage tanks. They are 35 feet tall and hold 7.5 million gallons of water, making them larger than the Hospital and Painted Hills high-pressure tanks. Osborn said the work began on Tuesday and is expected to be completed today. Due to the size of the tanks, she said she was satisfied with the inspection timeline.
Once the inspection is complete, Osborn said she’ll receive a video of the interior of the two tanks. A full report on the condition of the tanks will follow within a week or two.
All four of the city’s treated water tanks are slated for replacement in the latest Water Master Plan. This inspection will show how compromised the tanks are and where temporary repairs can be made until a full replacement can occur.
In the meantime, Osborn is asking residents to limit their water use. She said there must be enough stored water for the divers to safely enter and exit the tanks.
Osborn added that Inland Potable Services will bill the city $600 an hour if the divers have to wait for the tanks to refill, a process that can take several hours.
Some residents have taken to social media to report a change in the flavor and consistency of their water. Osborn said the changes are not related to the tank inspections. She said residents may be seeing an impact on their water quality because the city has activated the pretreatment plant, which draws water from the North Platte River to supplement the city’s other sources, including the Sage Creek Springs. The treatment plant operator said the difference comes from the way chemicals react with the warmer river water.
Because the pretreatment plant was online, Rawlins did not impose irrigation restrictions over the summer.
As mentioned earlier, replacing the treated water storage tanks was identified as a high-priority in the city’s current Water Master Plan. Other priority one projects include revitalizing the Sage Creek Springs, repairing the transmission line from the springs to the water treatment plant, and addressing the high‑pressure line beneath Interstate 80.
Since 2021, the city has spent roughly $4.2 million improving its water infrastructure, with nearly half of the cost covered by grants. The city is currently replacing the corrosion protection system on the water transmission line, replacing water lines along Edinburgh Street, and installing a pressure‑booster pump station at the intersection of Date and 9th Streets.
