Tapping Into Excellence

In a city of rivers, few people give much thought to the genesis of the water that flows from a faucet with a flick of the wrist. Though it may be taken for granted, it doesn’t happen by accident.

“Hardly anybody knows what we do or how we do it,” says Kumar Menon, director of utilities for City Utilities.

Even with a plentiful supply, the process of ensuring that water is safe for consumption is no easy task.

“The abundance of water in the ground and in our rivers is a blessing for us,” says Matt Land, chief operating officer, “but river water can be challenging to treat. We use a multi-stage process that includes filtration to remove organics and settling as well as chemicals to kill microbes and ultraviolet rays to deactivate potentially harmful elements.”

The not-for-profit provider of water, wastewater and stormwater services to Fort Wayne and other communities in northeast Indiana regularly wins awards for quality and taste. In 2023, City Utilities earned the distinction of Best Tasting Water in Indiana, awarded by the Alliance of Indiana Rural Water; it was the third win in the past five years.

“We set standards for ourselves that exceed federal requirements,” says Land. “We live here too, so we really, really care.”

The importance of a city’s water system to public health and safety often goes unrecognized. For example, the community requires adequate and appropriate water pressure to fight fires. Stormwater and sewer systems carry away contaminants to help prevent the spread of disease. And of course, clean water enables good hygiene and provides essential nutrients.

“The value we add is significant,” explains Menon. “People can live without power; they can live a long time without food; but they can’t live without water.”

Over the years, City Utilities has built an in-house engineering group that includes engineers, IT professionals, construction managers, programmers and analysts. Part of this effort includes a robust talent pipeline to organically grow expertise. In fact, more than 30% of the engineering staff started as interns with the utility. As a result, unlike most of its peers in the industry that rely on consultants, City Utilities handles more than 70% of all engineering work internally. 

“We put this plan in place over a decade ago when we realized that there was a lot of work to do and depending solely on consultants would be very expensive for our customers,” says Frank Suarez, chief of communications. “We’re always looking for good people.”

That team has proved invaluable for the city’s Tunnel Works project, which is set to wrap up construction later this year. The sewer system carries both wastewater and rainwater runoff, but in times of heavy rainfall, it was unable to handle the additional volume and would discharge any overflow untreated into the city’s rivers. Improvements from the Tunnel Works project will reduce such events by more than 90% via a three-part strategy that separates sewers to remove stormwater, transports more combined sewage to the sewage treatment plant, and treats more combined sewage at the plant.

“We have some high-quality people here working on these projects,” says Suarez. “In addition, our maintenance crew does a really good job in the field. They know the community is counting on them.”

As Tunnel Works wraps up, Menon says focus has turned toward underground infrastructure improvements. 

“For a long time, underground investments were not prioritized,” says Menon. “They often get taken for granted because they only get noticed when they break. We can’t wait that long.”

Recently City Utilities introduced MyWater — an online portal and citywide meter replacement in an effort to improve service. In addition to wirelessly reporting precise water usage, the system can also provide leak detection and abnormal use notifications, allowing residents more timely control over their water bills.

“People have no idea how much money they are literally flushing down the toilet when it leaks,” says Land. “Now people can use the portal to set up alerts that tell them these things.”

City Utilities wants to make it easier for customers to do business with them, even for actions as straightforward as paying a bill. Payment kiosks and mobile apps make paying convenient, and the company also accepts payment via cash, check or credit/debit card by mail or in person. It also has options such as payment plans rather than collections actions when customers struggle.

Whether it’s finding innovative ways to approach customer service, control costs, improve delivery of water, sewer and stormwater services, or ensure water quality by putting cleaner water into the river than it takes from it, City Utilities works hard to provide quality through innovation.

“The work we’re doing currently will still be beneficial to the community 100 years from now,” says Menon. “Everything we do moves our community forward.” 

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