Indiana American Water’s acquisition of Lake Station’s water system helps to “Keep Life Flowing” in the city and the Region

On October 22, 2019, Indiana American Water officially procured the City of Lake Station’s outdated water system in a $20.68 million acquisition. Due to the condition of Lake Station’s nearly eight-decade old water infrastructure, residents of the city were plagued with brown-tinged tap water. Despite the Lake Station Public Works Department’s best efforts, the issue had developed into something that the city could not handle on its own.

After recognizing the scale of the problem, Former Mayor of Lake Station Chris Anderson and his team decided to privatize the system by selling it to Indiana American Water. Through this deal, the company procured Lake Station’s water treatment facility and distribution system, including its main lines, service lines, and storage tanks.

“Indiana American Water was uniquely suited to help address this issue,” Justin Mount, Northwest Indiana operations manager at Indiana American Water, said. “As the largest  regulated water and wastewater utility in the entire country, we have an extensive knowledge of the industry and a strong presence in the Region. We’re a problem-solving entity and we’re here to help support communities with issues that might be beyond their means to deal with. Our team and the mayor’s team did a great job working together to make this acquisition happen.”

In the years before the acquisition, the system experienced frequent water main ruptures that were expensive and time-consuming to repair. Whenever one of the Lake Station’s fire hydrants was used, sediment would be stirred up and turn the city’s water brown. The water filtration system would also experience computer glitches that would allow the water to become brown-tinted. These issues led to large amounts of debt and put a halt on significant infrastructure work for about 18 years.

In the wake of the four-year acquisition process, Indiana American Water began implementing extensive changes to Lake Station’s water system. After Anderson’s tenure came to an end in 2019, Indiana American Water worked closely with the administration of Bill Carroll, current mayor of Lake Station and Anderson’s successor, to remedy the water-related issues that the city faced.

Giving Lake Station’s ground water-sourced infrastructure a complete overhaul, Indiana American Water linked the ground water-sourced Lake Station system to the Lake Michigan-sourced Indiana American Water system that surrounded it on all sides. This flushed Lake Station’s system out, ensuring that the city’s inhabitants can enjoy fresh, sediment-free water.

According to Mount, this acquisition has done much to enhance Indiana American Water’s Northwest Indiana Operations system, a network that serves over 250,000 residents of the Region.

“The more we grow our system base by establishing new premises, the more we develop our economy of scale,” Mount said. “Every time we add a new customer, our reach is broadened and we’re able to invest in our system. As we reduce unnecessary costs by replacing features like mains and meters in communities like Lake Station, we are able to initiate more projects throughout the Region that support the system as a whole. It helps the communities we work in and it enables us to have a bigger impact on the area at large.”

The acquisition has also benefited Lake Station in ways besides the direct improvement of its water quality. The deal has helped boost local and property tax revenue and the money paid to the city for the acquisition has helped fund the city’s other projects.

“This is the type of endeavor that Indiana American Water excels at,” Carroll said. “For the first time in a very long time, we were able to do road construction. Thanks to the sale, we were able to match the grants we needed for our road construction work. The rest of the acquisition money stays in the bank and accrues interest. This was an investment that continues to pay off. It’s been a blessing to this city. We are very confident in Indiana American Water’s work and would recommend their services to any municipality.”

Mount applauds the work Carroll has done during his time as mayor and expresses his pleasure at the fact that Indiana American Water was able to support Lake Station’s road construction initiatives. In Mount’s view, the Lake Station acquisition is an excellent example of the role that Indiana American Water plays in the community.

“I believe that the biggest takeaway from the Lake Station success story is that Indiana American Water supports the community,” Mount said. “Now, 10,000 Lake Station residents can turn their faucets on, knowing that they have access to reliably safe drinking water. That’s huge for a community. We’re here to help towns and cities of the Region reach their fullest potential. Indiana American Water has many great community leaders and many great community assets to offer. Our goal is to provide vital resources that will help the entirety of the Greater North Indiana area prosper for decades to come.”

For more information about Indiana American Water’s services and the work that it does in the Region, please visit amwater.com/inaw.