Louisville Water Company

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Louisville Water Company is a municipal water company which provides water to the more than 800,000 people in Louisville, Kentucky as well as parts of Oldham and Bullit counties. Additionally, they provide wholesale water to the outlying counties of Shelby, Spencer, and Nelson counties. The company has been in operation since 1860.

[edit] Brief History

Before the Louisville Water Company, most people in the community thought the idea of paying for water was silly at best. Why pay for water when you could get it for free from underground wells or corner pumps? Eventually a charter was granted in 1854 by the Kentucky Legislature for the incorporation of Louisville Water Company. This was due to the fact that disease and death from cholera and typhoid was becoming such a rampant epidemic in Louisville, due to heavy pollution of the ground water, that it earned the nickname "graveyard of the west." The water company opened its doors and started providing water to the community in October 1860. The first location was at Zorn Ave and River Rd. Though no longer in use, the original water tower and pumping station are still around and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

[edit] External links

• Official site