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From the grand structures and giant machinery that pumped water throughout the city in 1860, the operations were truly a marvel rooted in public health and safety.
One hundred sixty-five years later, Louisville Water still stands to serve that purpose of health and safety. Visionaries Theodore Scowden and Charles Hermany also built the “Water Works” (the original name) on the banks of the Ohio River to serve as an impressive, beautiful, and legitimate welcome as steamboats traveled south.
Today, Louisville Water Tower still serves as an iconic landmark and welcomes nearly 10,000 visitors annually for tours, field trips, and special events.
So, what’s in store for Louisville Water over the next 165 years?
CEO and President Spencer Bruce would tell you investment and innovation are key.
“We’ve always reinvested in our infrastructure, our people, and our community,” said Bruce. “In our 165-year history, we’ve always made decisions with the future in mind.”
Since its original 512 customers in 1860, Louisville Water has made great strides in becoming a regional water supplier.
Today, the company serves nearly one million people and 24,000 homes, schools, hospitals, businesses, and parks. That’s 20% of Kentucky’s population.
In June 2025, Louisville Water, North Nelson Water District, and the City of Bardstown announced a regional partnership to expand water access for businesses and residents located in Nelson County. With the BlueOval SK project along I-65, Louisville Water and Hardin County District No. 2 are also collaborating to supply enough water for the plant and neighboring communities.
“We’ve grown from serving just Louisville Water to partnering with water providers in the counties adjacent to Louisville,” said Bruce. “And I think that’s really important.”
We couldn’t be a regional water provider without the investment we make in our infrastructure each year. In fact, we have a Main Replacement & Rehabilitation Program that helps us identify the water mains in the most critical condition. Engineers then prioritize which ones to repair or replace.
Projects like the Oak Street Project where Louisville Water is replacing a 130-year-old water main are critical to ensure we can deliver high-quality drinking water for centuries to come.
With an infinite amount of information and data at our fingertips, technology is another focus area for Louisville Water in the coming years.
As the company and its service area grows, it’s important its processes do too. That’s why a new asset management system was introduced to track and monitor the condition of the 4,300 miles of water main in our system.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will also change what technology looks like for utilities. While there are challenges, it poses great opportunities for companies like Louisville Water to streamline processes and create efficiencies.
“Just to be blunt about the advent of AI, it’s going to revolutionize every company,” Bruce said. “But certainly, the water company needs to take advantage of that. AI is going to give us recommendations that we might not have found on our own.”
Louisville Water recently introduced an interactive virtual assistant, Iva Marie, to its customer service department. Iva Marie is a natural language, AI-based program that uses large language models to understand customer intent and provide self-service. Iva Marie is named after the first known woman employed at Louisville Water, Marie Dreisman.
Iva Marie uses an AI-built voice which was based on the voice recordings from Louisville Water’s Vice President of Communications and Marketing, Kelley Dearing Smith. She was built to interpret data and inform customers rather than the customer deciding which option fits their situation.
“Are you calling about your upcoming bill?”, she might ask. To which the customer would reply, “Yes, actually I am.”
“Would you like to make a payment now?”, Iva Marie asks, prompting the customer to complete their request in a matter of seconds.
Since implementing Iva Marie, the abandonment rate for calls has dropped by more than 10%. Customers are experiencing lower wait times and an improved level of service – without ever speaking to an agent.
The future of Louisville Water is bright, Bruce emphasized. It’s rare for a company to have such rich history that you can find in Board reports and meeting notes along with the oldest standing ornamental water tower in the country. Louisville Water is committed to preserving this history while it makes room for more milestones along the way.
