Connecting with Contractors

Louisville Water does more than produce billions of gallons of drinking water – we invest millions of dollars in the local economy. Our capital improvement program helps ensure water quality and reliability as well as exceptional service by replacing and repairing water mains, constructing pumping stations, and renovating treatment plants.

Contracting partners help make the capital program a success. At Louisville Water’s sixth annual Contractors’ Breakfast, more than three dozen representatives from 20 to 25 companies learned about Louisville Water’s upcoming initiatives.

“We had a great turnout,” said Director of Engineering Jeremy Raney. “It is hard to say if it was the Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits that attracted the crowd or the $121 million capital budget that we are expecting to expend!”

The breakfast was held at Louisville Water Tower, a perfect backdrop to talk about big projects. When the facility opened in 1860 as Kentucky’s first public drinking water provider, the $800,000 project to build the original water works included a host of contracting partners to install the steam engines, build the tower and station, and lay enormous cast iron water mains.

Today’s contractors at the Tower event “got an overview of our upcoming projects, details on our new MBE/WBE [Minority-owned Business Enterprise/Woman-owned Business Enterprise] tracking system, and an opportunity to engage project engineers over the scope and timing of their projects,” Raney said. “The greatest takeaway is the conversations that were had with both contractors who work with us annually and new contractors wanting to engage for the first time.”

Louisville Water’s 2024 Capital Improvement Plan includes projects to install water mains to support economic development and community growth, projects to replace and repair smaller water mains, and continuing upgrades to water meter technology.

Safety is a priority at Louisville Water, and coming off our safest year on record, our guests at the breakfast also learned the value we place on safe practices among our crews and contractors.

Inspection Supervisor Wayne Whitehouse pointed out that 35 to 40 Louisville Water employees helped make the event a success, including project managers, inspectors, and procurement and safety employees.

“I received a lot of good feedback on the food, presentations, and information received,” he said.