Indiana American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, held a groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate the completion of a new $8 million disinfection treatment facility at the Borman Park Water Treatment Plant in Gary, Ind.
The project will allow the company to switch from using gaseous chlorine to a much safer form of liquid chlorine known as sodium hypochlorite.
“This project is a great example of our commitment to integrating efficiency, sustainability and safety components into our operations and facilities,” said Matt Prine, president of Indiana American Water. “Over the past few years, we have already converted nearly half of our water facilities in the state to this much safer form of water disinfection and plan to invest approximately $30 million to convert the rest of our water and wastewater treatment facilities over the next five years.”
Planning is underway to convert Indiana American Water’s Ogden Dunes and Lowell water treatment plants in northwest Indiana to sodium hypochlorite disinfection by the end of 2024.
Indiana American Water purchased the adjacent property needed to complete the project in 2020 from the Gary Community School Corporation and demolished the abandoned Jefferson Elementary School building last year. Construction of the new processing facility began last year and came online in June 2022.
The project included the construction of a new bulk storage facility, comprising several large storage tanks and feed equipment to enable the existing Borman Park water treatment facility to use hypochlorite from sodium in water treatment and generate chloramines used in the water distribution system. Chloramine has been used as a water disinfectant for decades in the Northwest Indiana water distribution system. The facility also incorporates robust chemical containment and storage safeguards to mitigate the risks associated with any accidental spills or releases.
“We appreciate the significant investment that Indiana American Water has made in this facility and over the years in their water infrastructure in Northwest Indiana,” said Deputy Mayor of Gary, Trent. McCain. “This project is a significant health and safety improvement that also aligns with our plans to reduce the number of abandoned structures and associated risks in Gary, while also providing significant new property tax revenue to the community. community.”
The Gary Borman Park Chemical Treatment Project was designed and built through a collaborative partnership with Bowen Engineering and Hazen & Sawyer.
Indiana American Water serves more than 76,000 customers in its Northwestern Indiana service area or a population of approximately 250,000.
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