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 utility, public utilities operate water supply networks. The wa ...

based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

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 scho ...

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. 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; it has 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 between ...

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 lustre (mineralogy)#Submetallic lustre, submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy densit ...

to the sand and gravel water-filtering mixture. The original Louisville Water Tower 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

since 1971. In 1997, the company trademarked its drinking water as "Louisville pure tap". In December 2010, the

Environmental Working Group The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is an American activist group that specializes in research and advocacy in the areas of agricultural subsidies, toxic chemicals, drinking water pollutants, and corporate accountability. EWG is a 501(c)( ...

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 Hexavalent chromium (chromium(VI), Cr(VI), chromium 6) is any chemical compound that contains the element chromium in the +6 oxidation state (thus hexavalent). It has been identified as carcinogenic, which is of concern since approximately of ...

(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 is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

to the more than 800,000 people in

, as well as parts of

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

and Bullitt counties. The Louisville Water Company also provides wholesale water to the outlying counties of Shelby, Spencer, and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

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