LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After years of dealing with discolored water, Charlestown, Indiana, is opening a new water treatment facility.
Indiana American Water cut the ribbon Friday afternoon at the plant on Charlestown Landing Road.
The $16 million water treatment facility will help with filtration of water in the area.
"This plant, one, treats the water," said Indiana American Water Company President Matt Prine. "It makes sure iron and manganese is not present in our finished water and that the pipe is no longer going to have particulate iron and manganese getting caught on the edges of the pipe, which ultimately has been causing brown water events for decades."
Prine said the old facility lacked the capacity and the pressure to fully maintain the system. This new plant is much larger and has more capabilities.
Charlestown residents have dealt with brown water off and on for years. Indiana American Water took over the city's utility in 2019 and promised to solve the water issues.
"Indiana American Water has kept all of their promises in exceedance of what they originally promised and they will continue to do so," said Charlestown Mayor Treva Hodges. "It's in their best interest to also make sure that we have clean water."
The city hopes this new plant will drastically improve the issues Charlestown has faced with brown water, but Mayor Treva Hodges said this is not a problem that can be solved overnight.
"We may still see an occasional issue with brown water but it shouldn't be nearly as bad as it has been and eventually it will go away," said Hodges.
Prine said some customers could see occasional instances of discolored water this fall as work is done to flush sediment from water mains and tanks.
"What people may be seeing today is there's still residual iron and manganese that coats the inside of our pipes and so it will take time, as we continue to flush and do proper maintenance to get the remainder of that iron and manganese out. And there are probably areas of the pipe that have to be replaced," said Prine.
Hodges also hopes this can be a step toward attracting more people and businesses to choose Charlestown as their new home. She said the water issues in the past could have been a deterrent for some.
"If you're looking at moving to a new area or building a businesses in a new area, you're going to do a web search on that new area and if all you're seeing in news releases are problems with the water, that's certainly going to impact your decision to come or not to come," said Hodges.
According to the Indiana American Water Company, this plant becoming operational will not impact the price tag for water bills.
Indiana American Water serves thousands of customers in Charlestown.
Related stories:
- Indiana American officially acquires troubled Charlestown water system
- Indiana American Water says scammers are targeting customers
- New company aims to improve quality of water in Charlestown
- New treatment plant planned for long-struggling Charlestown water customers
- Water handed out to Charlestown residents as water company flushes lines
- Work begins on multimillion-dollar water main replacement project in southern Indiana
- Indiana American Water preparing for month-long flush of Charlestown's water system
- Charlestown residents to get brown water out of faucets again, city says
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