It is a busy time with the Water Division this year!! The new bond issue will provide installation of new mains into many areas. The city is growing with new apartments, subdivisions and businesses. All of these will need a dependable supply of drinking water. We at the City are dedicated to providing this service to our customers. Some new projects underway or recently completed within the Water Division are:
 
Chennault Plant Renovation
The City of Lake Charles is presently investigating the need for renovation and expansion of the Chennault Water Plant. The addition of various business ventures at the Industrial Airpark will require additional capacity development. We are constantly thinking of future expansion and development needed to meet our growing residential and business community.
 
Water Rate Increase
With the ever growing costs related to operation and maintenance of the water system, the rates for water supply to our customers were recently revised. These rate increases are used for daily costs associated with operation of our facilities and to generate additional income for needed capital improvements to ensure the continued reliability of all our facilities.
 
Complete Renovation of the GH West Water Plant
This is a 9 million dollar project to completely renovate the GH West Plant which serves all of the norther part of the city. This plant was constructed in 1926 and has served the city for over 75 years. Construction is underway on a new treatment facility, new chemical feed systems, new above ground storage facilities and new office and operator control rooms. This renovation is much needed to improve our service and the efficiency of this plant.
 
Elevated Storage Tank at Southwest Plant
With all of the growth into the southwest area of the city, an additional elevated storage facility was needed. If you haven't noticed, the new 750,000 gallon elevated storage tank is now part of the southern skyline. It will help provide additional water and sustain pressures during peak demand times.
 
Emergency Generator
The Water Division has completed the installation of a new 500 KW emergency generator at the Chennault Water Plant. Hurricane Rita is a constant reminder which prompted us to add additional emergency power generation for another facility. This generator will supply power in the event of a short or sustained power outage in the Chennault area. With this addition we have emergency power generation at four of our sites with a combined pumping capacity of 11 - 12 million gallons per day.