Water Filtration Plant

Mission

The mission of the water filtration plant is to serve and protect the public health and welfare by providing a safe and reliable water supply today and into the future.

Operational History

The City of East Chicago has been providing a safe drinking water supply for its citizens since 1918 when the original water filtration plant was built at the northern limits of the city. The original plant served a population of approximately 40,000 people. The filtration plant was upgraded in 1929 to increase capacity due to the growth of industry in the area. Then in 1964, a new state-of-the-art facility was built to meet the still increasing demand due to the expanding base of industrial manufacturing. This facility has now reached the end of its life-cycle.

Modern Changes

Due to the condition of the current facility and the more stringent requirements established by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) major upgrades are required to ensure future safety, reliability, and quality of the drinking water supply. The City of East Chicago has taken the first steps toward modernizing the filtration plant facility to ensure that both current and foreseeable future requirements can be met.

New Plant

The City of East Chicago began the construction of a new drinking water treatment plant in December 2009.

The new treatment plant is being relocated to south of Cline Avenue to open up the lakeshore to additional uses for the community. As was the case in 1929, the City of East Chicago will utilize a state-of-the-art technology, membrane filtration, at the new treatment plant prior to disinfection and distribution.