Huntingburg water production up to give Patoka Water leeway

ByMatthew Crane Reading Time: 2 minutes

Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner and Utilities Superintendent Tony Traylor met with officials from the Patoka Lake Regional Water and Sewage District on Monday.

The district is requesting that Huntingburg cut back it use of Patoka Lake supplied water by 1.6 million gallons for the entire month of July.

Huntingburg’s Water Treatment plant will increase production by 400,000 gallons a week by adding a shift on Saturdays.

Huntingburg has a purchasing agreement with Patoka Water for 600,000 gallons a day. The cost savings from the reduction will offset the cost of adding the extra shift at the Huntingburg Treatment plant.

The Patoka Lake Regional Water and Sewage District supplies water to eight counties: Dubois, Pike, Gibson, Orange, Martin, Crawford, Perry and Spencer Counties.

According to the District’s Manager Bruce Heeke, the plant expanded in 1992 to compensate for the growth in the region but this is the highest usage he has ever seen at the plant. The plant can produce 10 million gallons of water daily and  has been operating at near capacity for the past two weeks. This has prompted the District to call the utilities and rural customers it supplies to voluntarily cut back on their usage.

If the demand would rise above the ten million gallons a day the district would be calling for emergency cut backs from all the areas it supplies.

Here is a current map of their supply lines.

Here is a list of ways to conserve water.

  • Keep showers under five minutes
  • Turn water off while brushing your teeth
  • Wash only full loads of dishes or clothes
  • Refrain from watering lawns
  • Inspect toilets for silent leaks by putting food coloring in the toilet tank. If colored water leaks into the toilet bowl before flushing, water is being lost due to a worn flapper
  • Refrain from washing any vehicle or motorbike unless the dirt poses a driving hazard
  • Refrain from washing down any sidewalk, walkway, driveway, parking lot or any other hard-surfaced area
  • Refrain from filling, refilling or adding water to any indoor or outdoor swimming pool, spa or whirlpool.
  • Also see Water Conservation Measures at www.in.gov/dnr/water/files/watshplan.pdf page 6
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