Charlestown Gets Temporary Water Filtration Unit
(image courtesy of Indiana American Water)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana American Water has placed a temporary water filtration unit in service in Charlestown ahead of construction of a new water treatment facility that will be completed in mid-2022. The company says the filters will remove iron and manganese from the ground water source and provide some incremental improvement in water quality until the new treatment facility is in service.
The units, which utilize two 7,500-gallon pre-treatment tanks and a horizontal pressure filter to remove iron and manganese, were placed in service last week at the company’s existing treatment facility.
“This interim solution will provide filtered water for Charlestown residents for the first time ever,” said Indiana American Water President Matt Prine. “We promised when we purchased this system in 2019 that we would address the long-standing issue of high manganese levels and discolored water, and this interim solution, along with the construction of a new water treatment facility that will get underway later this year, will help us to deliver on that commitment.
The company says design on the treatment plant project is underway. Plans include adding filtration to the treatment process, improvements to pumping equipment to increase the flow of water to enhance fire protection capabilities, and switching from using gaseous chlorine to sodium hypochlorite, a much safer liquid disinfectant.
“We have already invested more than $4 million in the community’s aging water infrastructure, performed much needed maintenance, and made significant process improvements to the system,” said Prine. “While these improvements have helped enhance system reliability and reduce the frequency of discolored water, this filtration unit and the new water treatment facility will provide a long-term solution for providing high-quality water service to our customers here.”
The improvements are part of Indiana American Water’s plan to improve the Charlestown water system that started in 2019 when it acquired the system. The company says it has also invested $1.4 million to replace or relocate 1.4 miles of water mains since acquiring the Charlestown system.