Louisville Water Company

American water utility company

Louisville Water Company

Built between 1857-1860, the Louisville Water Tower is the oldest water tower in the United States.

Formerly| Louisville Water Works
Industry| Utilities
Water and wastewater
Founded| March 6, 1854; 171 years ago (1854-03-06)
Founder| Kentucky General Assembly
Headquarters| 550 S 3rd Street,

Louisville, Kentucky

United States

Key people

| Spencer Bruce, CEO
Greg Fischer, Chairman (ex-officio)
Products| Water
Owner| Louisville Metro Government (sole shareholder)

The Louisville Water Company is a water company based in Louisville, Kentucky.

## History

[edit]

The Louisville Water Company has been in operation since 1860. First known as "The Water Works", the company served water to 512 customers.[1] Water delivery began on 6 October 1860.[2]

In 1879, the Crescent Hill Reservoir, developed by Charles Hermany 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 launched experiments in filtration on the site.[1][2]

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 as a disinfectant. In 1917, a report from the US government sanitary service called the Louisville water "almost perfect".[1]

In 1957, the company added anthracite to the sand and gravel water-filtering mixture.[1]

The original Louisville Water Tower and pumping station have been preserved and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1971.[2]

In 1997, the company trademarked its drinking water as "Louisville pure tap".[1]

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.[3]

In 2014, the old Pumping Station No1 was restored and opened to the public as the new WaterWorks Museum.[4]

In 2018, the company distributed 33.7 billion gallons of drinking water.[5]

## Activities

[edit]

The Louisville Water Company provides water to the more than 800,000 people in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as parts of Oldham and Bullitt counties.[citation needed]

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.[6]

## See also

[edit]

* Crescent Hill Reservoir
* Cardinal Hill Reservoir

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "Timeline". Louisvillewater.com. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
2. ^ a b c Martin McKenzie. "Louisville Water Company". Explorehistory.ky.gov. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
3. ^ "Louisville's drinking water under scrutiny". Wave3.com. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
4. ^ "Original Pumping Station and New WaterWorks Museum Opens to the Public". Louisvillewater.com. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
5. ^ James Bruggers (21 November 2017). "Louisville Water Co. to raise your rates again, starting Jan. 1". Courier-journal.com. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
6. ^ "Water Quality". Louisvillewater.com. Retrieved 11 June 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Water Works: 150 Years of the Louisville Water Company

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