Town of Chandler Breaks Ground on Long-Awaited $15 million Water Project

WNIN | By Tim Jagielo

Published October 13, 2023 at 4:09 PM CDT

Chandler officials complete the ceremonial groundbreaking at the Chandler Utilities water treatment plant Thursday Oct 12. They're kicking off a final, and largest phase of their water service improvement project — 8 miles of new 24-inch distribution pipe in Ohio Township. A section of pipe is set behind them for demonstration purposes.

This is the final phase of their massive water service upgrade. Includes 8 miles of new 24-inch drinking water lines; should allow for continued growth in the county and improved service to current customers

Chandler Town Council President Tonya Wester speaks at the event, the 24-inch pipe in the foreground.

The Chandler Utility handles water and sewer for the town of Chandler and much of western Warrick County.

This is the second largest water utility system in the area with 8,400 water meters and 3,800 sewer connections, according to legal counsel Joshua Claybourn. The Evansville Water and Sewer Utility is the largest.

On Thursday afternoon, the Town of Chandler and Chandler Utilities held a ceremonial groundbreaking to mark the occasion: initializing the third and largest part of the long-term water service improvement projects.

Chandler Town Council President Tonya Wester said this is the third of the three major water projects, which will benefit residents in Ohio Township which is experiencing a growth in population.

“Now adding this (pipeline), it should be able to not only allow for the growth that's happened over the last 15, 20 years, but growth to happen in the future as well.”

This project will add eight miles of 24-inch water transmission main, connecting to existing hookups and a storage tank. A nearly 50-year old 12-inch main is currently in use. The project will cost $15 million dollars and be completed by May of 2025.

Phases one and two replaced water lines within the town limits that were up to 60 years old.

Like Weston said, this phase will allow for expansion and improved service to current customers — especially in the summer months.

“There were issues keeping tanks full just because the demand was so high then,” said Pete Wamsley with project design firm Beam, Longest and Neff. “Now with this big of a main, we'll be able to keep storage in the system, which will just greatly improve stability and demand for all the users.”

The new system should minimize maintenance during high-demand times and accommodate future growth and development in western Warrick County.

Legal Counselor Joshua Claybourn said Chandler Utility was a far more modest operation previously. “But it's evolved now to be the second largest municipal utility in southwestern Indiana, second only to Evansville,” he noted that the community itself continues to grow.

Retiring Chandler Public Works Director Rob Coghill speaks at the groundbreaking event.

The project was led by retiring Chandler Utilities Director Rob Coghill, who spoke at the event. “This 24-inch transmission main is the final piece of years of work that ties together all the projects that preceded it,” he said, referring to refurbishing and adding new tanks and a 5.6 million gallon per-day water treatment plant.

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