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At Louisville Water, we’ve always recognized that our customers are our neighbors. Last year, we engaged with more than 635,000 people at community events, in classrooms, and at senior and community centers as well as the Louisville Water Tower. This was one of our top years in terms of the number of community connections, but our engagement efforts go back to the very beginning of the company.
In fact, our first chief engineer, Theodore Scowden, wanted Louisville Water’s first pumping station — located behind the tower — to include a park-like landscape of “unrivaled beauty and effect that would be used and valued by the community.”
His vision was realized on October 16, 1860, when Louisville Water started operations. A newspaper reporter called the pumping station site a “most delightful resort,” and this was just the start of many community engagement efforts in the company’s early years.
Creating Gathering Spots
Scowden also designed the first reservoir — located on what is now Zorn Avenue on the site of the Robley Rex VA Medical Center — to be a community space for people looking for “fresh air, beautiful scenery, and relaxations from the cares of business.”
When Louisville Water opened the Crescent Hill Reservoir in 1879, the company’s president at the time, Charles Long, also wanted the new facility to be a “pleasant place of attraction to visitors,” while the old reservoir became a recreational spot. The Louisville and Standard Country Clubs used it as a swimming pool and even for boating.
In 1910, Louisville Water built a new headquarters on Third Street (where the Omni Louisville Hotel is now), and even this building — with its large, open lobby — was designed as a community gathering place.
In 1919, Louisville Water built a swimming pool at the Crescent Hill Reservoir. More than 500 people attended the opening ceremony, which included a band concert and a speech by Lt. Governor Edward J. McDermott, who said, “Life is not merely for work, business and wealth; it is also for health, refinement, and innocent pleasure.”
The pool was three to nine feet deep, held 1.2 million gallons of water, and lasted more than 30 summers.
Being a Good Neighbor
As Louisville Water grew, so did our efforts as a community partner. During World War II, the company placed signs on its fleet of vehicles to garner support for the troops and even sold war bonds at the corporate office.
During times of crisis, such as floods and tornadoes, Louisville Water employees not only worked long hours and made extraordinary efforts to ensure everyone continued to have water but also took extra steps to help the community recover.
A year after the April 3, 1974 tornado devastated Crescent Hill, for instance, a monument to mark its recovery was installed on Frankfort Avenue beside a Louisville Water fountain. An inscription on the monument commemorated “the community spirit that revitalized Crescent Hill.” At the dedication ceremony, one of the speakers said the recovery brought out “the best in human nature … as neighbor reached out to neighbor — and stranger to stranger. A spirit of love and concern united hundreds of people.”
Louisville Water also has always had a deep concern for public health. For several decades, the company worked to protect the community by replacing the lead service lines in the distribution system. In all, we replaced about 74,000 public lead lines. In recent years, Louisville Water started working with customers to replace lead and galvanized steel private service lines for free through our Service Line Replacement Program.
Going Global
Throughout our history, Louisville Water also has worked to enhance community wellbeing by providing payment assistance and engaging in charitable activities. The company went a step further in 2013 by establishing the Louisville Water Foundation, which consolidated philanthropic efforts behind a unified mission.
The formation of a separate nonprofit entity allowed the Foundation to begin receiving financial support from a broad base of public and private sources. This was a critical moment in the company’s history as it gave Louisville Water the opportunity to expand engagement efforts to communities around the globe. Besides providing grants to local agencies for bill payment assistance, the Foundation has supported safe water initiatives in Haiti, Mexico, South Sudan, and Uganda.
The Foundation also supports recovery after emergencies around the world — and across the state, such as the 2021 tornadoes in western Kentucky and the 2022 flooding in eastern Kentucky. In addition, Louisville Water Company sent crews to help restore water infrastructure after these emergencies.
Continuing our Commitment
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company took several steps to help our local communities stay healthy, including suspending water service turnoffs for nonpayment. Louisville Water and Louisville MSD reframed their customer assistance program, branding it Drops of Kindness℠ and adding a range of options to help families struggling to pay their water bills because of the pandemic’s financial impact.
Louisville Water also promotes water-related education throughout the service area. For decades, a dedicated team has visited schools to share lessons on a range of topics, including the best way to wash your hands to prevent the spread of germs and how to protect our drinking water source, the Ohio River.
A Louisville Water outreach team provides free water for a wide range of community events, including St. Joe’s Picnic, Bourbon & Beyond, Louder Than Life, and the Kentucky Derby Festival mini/MARATHON. Louisville Water also sponsors its own community race: the Louisville Pure Tap 5K®.
But you don’t have to run a race to get free Pure Tap when you’re on the go around the city. You can fill up your reusable water bottle at Louisville Water-branded water stations at several venues, including the KFC Yum! Center, Louisville Slugger Field, and the Louisville Zoo.
Louisville Water still welcomes the community to its original pumping station, which still resembles a park-like facility but now contains the WaterWorks Museum. The original water tower in front of the facility has become an iconic landmark for the city that signifies not only a history of innovation but also a continued commitment to the communities around it.
