Ribbon Cutting Set for New Water Treatment Plant in Lake Station

Engineering + InfrastructureApr 13, 2015

LAKE STATION, IND. — A two-phase project to bring clean drinking water to residents in Lake Station is officially complete. To celebrate the opening of the new drinking water treatment plant, city officials and project managers are hosting a public ribbon-cutting celebration on Wednesday, April 29, 2015 at 10 AM local time (11 AM EST). The event will take place at the new facility at 2898 Union Street, City of Lake Station, Indiana 46405.

“I'm excited for the opportunity to improve the quality of our water and control our destiny for future generations”, says Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist.

In 2012, the state of Indiana approved the City of Lake Station for an $11 million Indiana Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) low-interest loan to improve its aging water distribution system, including the addition of a new 2.0 million gallon per day (MGD) drinking water treatment plant. Over the years, the City’s Water Department has struggled with declining capacity, inadequate water storage, and water loss and water quality issues.

In 2008, the City of Lake Station hired Indianapolis and Highland, Ind.-based engineering firm American Structurepoint to evaluate its existing water distribution system. They studied the City's water system, and identified the necessary improvements that would enable the City to expand capacity, make major infrastructure improvements, and improve its water quality. By conducting test drilling and performing hydraulic modeling in order to prioritize the City’s next 20 years of capital improvements, the City and American Structurepoint were able to prioritize projects critical to the long-term operation of the Lake Station Water Department.

The water improvements include the construction of the drinking water treatment plant, five new groundwater supply wells, modifications to the booster station at the existing 2 million-gallon ground storage tank, installation of approximately 16,000 feet of critical water distribution mains with larger-diameter water mains and the implementation of a water recovery program. In addition, the City will establish a fully automated supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, which will transform the existing water distribution system from a manual operation to a fully automated system.

“The project consists of green initiatives, which gives the City a credit toward interest rate reductions for the Indiana SRF loan,” said Jordan McCormack, PE, project manager at American Structurepoint. “Additional green components include premium efficiency pump motors with variable frequency drives (VFDs). VFDs enable pumps to accommodate fluctuating demands, running pumps at lower speeds and drawing less energy, while still meeting the pumping needs.”

For more information, contact Jordan McCormack at 574.287.2231 or jmccormack@structurepoint.com.