The Louisville Water Company is a

water company The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry doe ...

based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

History

The Louisville Water Company has been in operation since 1860. First known as "The Water Works", the company served water to 512 customers. Water delivery began on 6 October 1860. In 1879, the Crescent Hill Reservoir, developed by

Charles Hermany Charles Hermany (October 9, 1830 – January 18, 1908) was an engineer and architect. Early life Charles Hermany was born on October 9, 1830, in Lynn Township, Pennsylvania to Salome (née Wannemacher) and Samuel Hermany. He attended local schoo ...

and with a capacity of 100 million gallon, opened to retain more mud from the water cleaning process. Starting in 1896, sanitary engineer

George W. Fuller George Warren Fuller (December 21, 1868 – June 15, 1934) was an American sanitary engineer who was also trained in bacteriology and chemistry. His career extended from 1890 to 1934 and he was responsible for important innovations in water and ...

launched experiments in filtration on the site. The Water Company's Crescent Hill Treatment Plant, located in Crescent Hill, was opened on July 13, 1909, which enabled Louisvillians to get clean water. In 1914, the company started to use

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...

as a disinfectant. In 1917, a report from the US government sanitary service called the Louisville water "almost perfect". In 1957, the company added

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

to the sand and gravel water-filtering mixture. The original

Louisville Water Tower The Louisville Water Tower, located east of downtown Louisville, Kentucky near the riverfront, is the oldest ornamental water tower in the world, having been built before the more famous Chicago Water Tower. Both the actual water tower and its pum ...

and pumping station have been preserved and are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

since 9171. In 1997, the company trademarked its drinking water as "Louisville pure tap". In December 2010, the Environmental Working Group published a report on the quality of tap water in major US cities, and revealed that the Louisville tap water may contain significant levels of hexavalent chromium (chromium-6). The spokesperson of the company denied the allegations, stating their tap water was safe. In 2014, the old Pumping Station No1 was restored and opened to the public as the new WaterWorks Museum. In 2018, the company distributed 33.7 billion gallons of drinking water.

Activities

The Louisville Water Company provides

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

to the more than 800,000 people in

, as well as parts of

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

and Bullitt counties. The Louisville Water Company also provides wholesale water to the outlying counties of Shelby, Spencer, and Nelson counties. Within the water-cleaning complex, 200 water quality tests are operated daily.

References

External links

*
Water Works: 150 Years of the Louisville Water Company
Companies based in Louisville, Kentucky Infrastructure in Louisville, Kentucky Water companies of the United States American companies established in 1860 1860 establishments in Kentucky Water in Kentucky {{Louisville-stub

History

Activities

See also

References

External links