Denver Water’s Northwater Plant Named Best in the Nation by Engineering News-Record

Denver Water’s Northwater Treatment Plant in Golden, Colorado, has been selected as a regional and national winner in Engineering News-Record’s 2024 Best of the Best Awards. Recognized in the Water/Environment Category, the plant stands among the top projects nationwide for excellence in design and construction.

Jacobs served as Denver Water’s owner’s representative on the project providing staff augmentation and program advisory services. This included planning, design and construction oversight, procurement, program controls, permitting and communications for what was one of Denver Water’s largest water infrastructure programs to date.

The new, state-of-the-art facility can treat up to 75 million gallons of water per day and is part of the North System Renewal Program – a major initiative to modernize aging facilities and secure the region’s potable water supply for future generations. 

Award criteria included teamwork, safety, design innovation, cost and schedule performance and sustainability. The Northwater Treatment Plant was designed with resilience and environmental stewardship in mind. Built on a 183-acre site next to Ralston Reservoir, the facility includes a hydroturbine that allows it to produce more energy than it consumes annually. While connected to the power grid, it also has the potential for future off-grid operation using battery storage. Several treatment buildings are built into the hillside to reduce visual impact and energy demand for heating and cooling. The plant’s flexible treatment processes allow it to respond to changes in source water quality, including post-wildfire contamination—an increasingly important feature in the U.S. West.

Now a nationally recognized Best of the Best award winner, the Northwater Treatment Plant expands Denver Water’s capacity to serve high-quality drinking water to 1.5 million people across the metro area. Through a collaborative approach rooted in continuous improvement, the project team delivered lasting benefits for the community and the environment.