April 1, 2019 - Last year, a proud community and its highly-touted Cedarville Elementary School completed a beautiful building expansion that includes a new entrance and additional classrooms. It wasn’t long until school officials realized something had changed in their well-water supply during construction. The water needed to supply a student and teacher population of nearly nine-hundred, had unacceptable water quality.
School officials worked closely with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to resolve the issue and used bottled water as they explored options to correct the water source. After a few months of hard work the issue didn’t clear up and so last November the school contacted City Utilities.
As it happened, City Utilities had a water main about a third of a mile away from the school. In December, work began to connect the school to City Utilities water supply.
"We were happy to be a good neighbor and partner to help the nearby school connect to reliable, quality water," said Matthew Wirtz, Deputy Director of City Utilities.
The work involved extending a 12” diameter water main pipe about 16-hundred linear feet to the school and then constructing the service pipe that would deliver water to the school. By mid-January the work was complete and the connection for a new water supply to Cedarville Elementary was in place.
"In a world where billions of people lack access to clean water, shouldn't we all treasure this resource that we take for granted?” said Dr. Brad Bakle, principal of Cedarville Elementary.
"Around the World, we see challenging issues such as the situation in Cape Town, South Africa, where the water supply is expected to run out this year," said Wirtz. "While the situation with the Cedarville Elementary is not on that scale, it certainly makes us realize how precious water is and how fortunate we are to have the resource to share with our neighbors."
Fox Contractors Corp. performed the work in just over a month. The project was jointly funded by City Utilities and the East Allen County School Corporation. Besides supply Cedarville Elementary today, the project will help meet the demands of future growth in the area.
Today’s Water Facts
- According to the United States Government Accountability Office, more than 30 states (including portions of Indiana) have a water shortage. That number will grow to 40 states in the next five years.
- Humans need about five gallons of water each day for drinking and hygiene. The World Health Organization says U.S. residents use 100 gallons of water each day.
- A five minute shower uses 25 gallons of water.