Anasazi Trails Water Cooperative

  • Anasazi Trails Water Cooperative (ATWC) provides high quality water at a reasonable cost to over 270 customers in the Anasazi Trails, Meadows, and Petroglyph subdivisions. About 18.5 million gallons of water were provided to our customers in 2025, up from 16.2 million gallons in 2024.
  • The Anasazi Trails Water Cooperative (ATWC) is an independent cooperative entity as provided for in its Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.
  • ATWC is not affiliated with the Anasazi Homeowners Association.

Your Water

🚰 Water Treatment

The water from our two wells is treated to chlorinate it and to remove arsenic.

  • Chlorination. Water is chlorinated at the treatment plant by injecting sodium hypochlorite into the incoming well water.  ATWC’s water is chlorinated per state requirements.  
  • Arsenic Removal. To remove arsenic, ferric chloride is injected into the incoming water.  (Ferric chloride adsorbs arsenic.) When the ferric chloride binds to the arsenic, it creates a filterable precipitate which then allows the arsenic to be removed.  After filters remove the arsenic-containing ferric chloride, the treated water is passed into our water storage tanks for distribution.

💦 Well Water

Our water is sourced from two established wells and held in two 175,000 gallon tanks on our property.  The well water is filtered and treated for naturally occurring arsenic.  We check arsenic levels every month to ensure the arsenic treatment system is operating properly.  We comply with EPA requirements as implemented by the State of New Mexico.

✓ Compliance

Our water system is in compliance with NM State requirements. All required water testing and reporting has been completed on time.

🥷 Cybersecurity

ATWC subscribes to system security monitoring conducted by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security.  All weekly reports have indicated that we are secure.

🏞️ 2026 Report:
The Water Supply in Placitas

The Anasazi Trails Water Cooperative is located in the “Santa Fe Group” aquifer: the aquifer with the highest well yields in the Placitas area.  

In this report, John Shomaker, a noted authority on the water supply in Placitas, summarizes studies from: 

  • the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources
  • the records of water wells in the files of the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer
  • John Shomaker & Associates Inc.’s more than 30 years of experience with Placitas wells and springs.

The full 12 page report can be found here

🧪 PFAS:
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

PFAS are chemicals – also known as forever chemicals – that have become a concern. The EPA is taking action to address these chemicals in drinking water.
No measurable amount of PFAS were found in ATWC water testing.

🔧 Valves and Hydrants

Our 45 fire hydrants are regularly flow tested, exercised and serviced.  Our stored water and hydrants have the capability to deliver up to 1,000 gallons per minute for over 5 hours in an emergency situation.  This capacity matches or exceeds the capacity of hydrants in most large cities! Our water system has nearly 8 miles of distribution piping ranging from 4 to 12 inches in diameter.  (We are also fortunate to have a 🚒 fire station located in our neighborhood.)