Brown County Water Utility
5,300 Customers
500 Miles of Main Pipe
Brown County – Morgantown, IN
PROJECT BACKGROUND AND CHALLENGES
Brown County Water Utility serves 5,300 customers in scenic Brown County, Indiana, and parts of Morgan, Johnson, Monroe and Bartholomew counties. The utility was formed in 1964 with the mission of providing quality water at a reasonable price. The utility has supported growth from both new construction and existing home connections, as the area has become a seasonal and retirement destination. In 2007, Brown County Water Utility recognized that it was facing an aging infrastructure that had outlived its useful life, and it began seeking solutions to reduce its maintenance costs and to protect water quality.
STRATEGIES AND RESULTS
Brown County Water Utility obtained a grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, which provided more than $1 million of funding for a $6 million infrastructure upgrade project. After investigating numerous ways to improve water services, Brown County Water Utility decided that increasing storage capacity, softening the water, and implementing a new backwash system would be the best and most cost-effective solution to protecting and improving water quality. The utility contracted with Covalen to purchase Aquastore storage tanks with bolt caps. The Aquastore tanks are known for their “glass fused to steel” construction and low maintenance costs. This decision enabled Brown County Water Utility to avoid $100,000 in maintenance costs through the use of bolt caps, and to save 120,000 gallons of water per month in its backwash operation.
SOLUTION COMPONENTS
• 1 million gallon Aquastore storage tank
• 250,000 gallon Aquastore backwash tank
• Bolt caps to protect against weather and corrosion, reducing maintenance costs
KEY PROJECT FACTS
• Reduced maintenance costs by more than $100,000
• Decreased water usage of backwash operation by 120,000 gallons/month
• Increased storage capacity to 1 million gallons
• Replaced a failing and aging infrastructure
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