Where Does My Drinking Water Come From?
The St. Joseph River is the sole source of drinking water for the residents served by the Fort Wayne City Utilities. Not only does the plant provide drinking water to the residents of Fort Wayne, it's supply also reaches residents of New Haven, Lutheran Hospital at Jefferson Blvd., Parkview Hospital North, St. Joseph Hospital on DuPont Road, and AQUASOURCE customers in Aboite Township during the summer months.
Each day an average of 34.9 million gallons of water is drawn from the river for treatment, filtration, and distribution. Water flows into the St. Joseph River from a watershed that covers more than 694,000 square acres in northeast Indiana, northwest Ohio, and south-central Michigan. Springs, creeks, and runoff from rain and snow throughout the St. Joseph watershed feed the river.
You can schedule a presentation for your group to learn more about our drinking water. To do so, contact the City's Analytical Chemist office at 427-1314
You can also Sign Up for CSO Notification.
Clean, Safe Water
Fort Wayne City Utilities proudly reports that it's water meets or is better than all state and federal water quality standards. In 2003 better than 12 billion gallons of drinking water were produced. To insure that tap water is safe to drink, the Environmental Protection Agency prescribes regulations that limit the amount of contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The FDA has established similar regulations limiting contaminants in bottled water. To learn more about your drinking water, visit the City Utilities website.
Three Rivers Water Filtration Plant
Fort Wayne's Water Filtration Plant (pictured on this page) was constructed in 1933 with a capacity to produce 24 million gallons of treated water per day (MGD). Major addition in 1955 and 1981 increased the capacity of the plant to 72 MGD. The plant uses a combination of chemicals including: chlorine dioxide and choloramine for disinfection, lime and carbon dioxide for softening, ferric oxide for floccination, and powered activated carbon to remove organic chemicals, pesticides and odor-causing natural organic material. Rapid sand filtration removes particulate matter and cryptosporidium. Fluoride is added at a rate of 1 mg/L to help prevent tooth decay.