Celebrating Safe Water in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Walden is taking a moment today to celebrate some of the things that our client, the City of Fort Wayne, Division of Utilities is accomplishing with its growing drinking water utility.

Each year, Fort Wayne City Utilities publishes its Annual Drinking Water Quality Report with information about the safety of its drinking water, where the water comes from, how it is treated, and its quality. Fort Wayne City Utilities is dedicated to fulfilling its mission of providing high-quality and affordable water, wastewater, and stormwater services while safeguarding the environment and promoting public safety, health, and economic growth.

To fulfill its mission, Fort Wayne City Utilities conducts over 50,000 daily tests, ensuring water quality from the source in the St. Joseph River through treatment and distribution at the Three Rivers Water Filtration Plant.

The 2023 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report shows that Fort Wayne City Utilities remains focused on ensuring families, neighborhoods, and communities are receiving quality water year after year.

Award Winning Performance in 2022

Fort Wayne City Utilities received national and state recognition in 2022. It has received the following as a result of its dedicated employees:

• Alliance of Indiana Rural Water – Best Tasting Water in Indiana
• Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies – Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
• Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting – 4th Place Municipal Water Category

Other Achievements in 2022

Aside from supplying safe water to thousands of customers every day, Fort Wayne has also accomplished the following in 2022:

• Unique Public Outreach: Be River SmART, a collaboration of Friends of the Rivers and City Utilities, uses public art to convey the message “only rain in the drain.” Its aim is to prevent pollutants like trash, chemicals, and pet waste from entering Fort Wayne’s drains, safeguarding both the rivers’ beauty and aquatic ecosystems.
• Lead Service Line Improvement: Fort Wayne City Utilities’s lead service line replacement program provides assistance to customers who are connected to the water main through privately owned lead service lines. The program makes private service line replacements more affordable with bulk pricing and financial assistance for customers (determined by income). Additionally, a loan program is available if property owners want to pay the cost over time. As of the date the report was published, City Utilities had loaned over $500,000 to customers to cover private service line replacements.
• Fire Protection: Fort Wayne has an impressive ISO fire protection rating of Class 2. This is due in part to Fort Wayne City Utilities’s continuous work to perform maintenance on and upgrade the water system, which makes more water available for firefighting.
• Water System Connection: Fort Wayne City Utilities connected the Town of Grabill’s water system to the City Utilities water supply. This resulted in significant cost savings for the town, which otherwise would have had to make costly improvements to its system.
• Water Tower Installation: Fort Wayne City Utilities finished a new 500,000-gallon water tower, and rehabilitated another.

The Future Is Even Brighter

Fort Wayne plans to continue strengthening its infrastructure to meet future community needs. Walden is proud to contribute to Fort Wayne’s achievements. Through engineering, strategic planning, business development, reporting, grant applications, and educational outreach, Walden continues to support Fort Wayne each year. If you’re seeking assistance with public health, environmental stewardship, and community growth, contact Walden at 516-701-1681 today.