Fort Wayne Water

I thought it’d be fun to do a little comparison between my hometown (Fort Wayne) and Bloomington in terms of water resources, and then I got a little out of control.

First and foremost is quality: I used the 2011 Drinking Water Quality Report for Fort Wayne (http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/utilities/images/stories/docs/water%20quality%20report2011.pdf) and the 2010 Bloomington Water Quality Report (http://bloomington.in.gov/media/media/application/pdf/7157.pdf) to compare them.

A few of the significant differences include:

Disinfectants

Bloomington has more chlorine and haloacetic acids (disinfectant by-products) in their drinking water, probably because they have a significantly higher level of total coliform (a microbial contaminant).  This really surprised me since Fort Wayne has a combined sewer system, with 50 combined sewer overflow (CSO) sites (http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/utilities/clean-river-team/41-where-are-the-csos.html).  I thought for sure all that raw sewage getting dumped in the rivers during big rains would cause major bacterial problems, but I guess I was wrong (Roseland mentions CSOs in chapter 5 on page 65).  We’re one of only 772 cities in the U.S. that STILL HAS this grossly outdated wastewater treatment system (http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/cso/demo.cfm?program_id=5)! 

But don’t worry, the city is on it.  Two CSO upgrades are in the works, one for Glenwood Park and the other for Fairfax Avenue.  Glenwood is near IPFW and Canterbury Green, two big tax revenue sources, with about a 4% minority population.  Fairfax is farther south in “old town” Fort Wayne and is composed of 57% of the city’s African American population (http://zipatlas.com/us/in/zip-code-comparison/percentage-black-population.htm).  According to the article, the Glenwood Park project should be taking bids soon, with estimated completion by next summer, EVEN though there’s already a contractor lined up for the Fairfax project and it costs $46,000 less (http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110707/LOCAL/307079964/1002).  No estimated time of completion on the Fairfax upgrade; they’re still weighing its “cost effectiveness”.  Did someone say environmental justice?

Ag Runoff and Industry

Fluoride, atrazine and nitrate levels are much higher in Fort Wayne.  This one is a no-brainer: fluoride comes from fertilizer runoff and aluminum factories (hello Alcoa), atrazine is a common herbicide, and nitrates come from fertilizers, septic system leaching, and sewage discharge (there’s those pesky CSOs rearing their ugly heads). 

Rusty Pipes

Copper, sulfate (5x Bloomington’s detected level) and ESPECIALLY lead (23 ppb!) are also higher in Fort Wayne, due to corroded plumbing systems.  “Homes built before 1986 are more likely to have lead pipes” (http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/lead/index.cfm) which would be most of Fort Wayne homes.

One note on water policy:

Both Fort Wayne (http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/utilities/customer-services/rates.html) and Bloomington (http://bloomington.in.gov/media/media/application/pdf/8076.pdf p. 30) have water rates that get cheaper as you use more!  A method recommended by Roseland uses the “rate structure as a conservation tool” with “a three tiered inclining block structure…that increases costs for high water users” (p. 64).  This is a simple and effective way to encourage people to conserve, rather than waste, water resources.

One note on political management:

“One of the greatest barriers” to ecologically responsible water management “is the departmentalization of city, municipal, or regional water and wastewater services” (Roseland, p. 70).  This difficulty is illustrated perfectly as Huntertown (population 2,900) approves building an $11.2 million sewage treatment plant, despite the fact that they could save $7 million by staying with Fort Wayne City Utilities.  Why?  Well, first they’re afraid yearly rates will increase too much, and secondly “…that Fort Wayne sewage connection fees and the expansion of service area requests could stifle Huntertown’s future growth” (http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/Huntertown-Approves-112M-Sewage-Treatment-Plant-129350253.html).  Huntertown is on the far north side of Fort Wayne, and fast becoming another victim of suburban sprawl.  And to add fuel to the fire, the proposed sewage plant is going to be located on land that was originally saved for a community park (http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/home/Big-Stink-Huntertown-Residents-Fight-Proposed-Sewage-Plant-124229879.html).  Citizens seem to be vehemently against the treatment plant but the Town Council is for it, so we’ll see how it pans out.