UPDATE | 9 a.m. Sept. 7 — As of Tuesday afternoon, an Adams County sergeant confirmed water inside the facility was operating as normal, however, the issue has not been resolved. Maintenance crews were able to use a fire hydrant on the property to resolve the water pressure inside the facility, and work continues on the permanent fix.
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BRIGHTON, Colo. — Several people have reached out to Denver7, sharing their concerns for inmates of the Adams County Detention Facility as significant water issues continue for a portion of the jail.
A water main break Friday afternoon has left parts of the building with barely any running water, and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office said repairs will likely not happen until Tuesday.
Margaret Endicott—whose son Zakaryah is an inmate in an impacted wing—spoke to Denver7 outside the jail to share her anger and concerns.
“I was horrified,” Endicott said. “I was totally disgusted. I literally threw up. And then, of course, I’m worried about my son’s well-being.”
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office said roughly 300 of the more than 900 inmates at the jail are impacted by the water main break. Water pressure to the impacted areas has been significantly reduced until repairs can be completed, and as a result, inmates have had to stagger showering and use buckets of water to flush toilets.
Endicott said she is concerned for her son’s health and safety.
“They’re treating them unjustly,” she said. “They’re being really cruel. You don’t even do that to animals. I would hope not.”
Denver7 went inside the jail with Adams County Sheriff Rick Reigenborn. He said a contractor came out to inspect and repair the water main over the weekend. However, because of the specific parts that will be needed, full repairs would not be possible over the weekend.
The decision was therefore made to put off the repairs, he said, so that some running water to the building would remain.
“We’re afraid that if we dig up that main break. And if we can’t get the parts we need to fix that, then we’ll have to shut off all the water to the facility completely,” Sheriff Reigenborn said. “And so, we figured some water is better than no water as we go through this problem.”
Denver7 asked Sheriff Reigenborn if the option of moving inmates in impacted parts of the building to portions with full running water had been discussed, given the longer wait for repairs—something that Endicott and others who have reached out to Denver7 called for in the interim.
“Currently, no,” he responded. “We’re currently holding about 948 inmates, and so to move a number of inmates into those areas would overpopulate those areas.”
In the meantime, pallets of bottled water are being brought in for drinking. One bottle per inmate at a time is being issued, but the Sheriff said enough is now in supply to replenish bottles as often as requested.
The Sheriff also told Denver7 he is optimistic repairs will be completed Tuesday.
But for Endicott, that’s not soon enough.
“This is the worst—the worst,” she said. “And I just can’t fathom the idea that they have to be like this. I understand things happen, but this taking too long to ‘unhappen.’”
