Not building a water tower on the same site as the existing water tower comes down to a level of risk the Village is willing to accept when it comes to the Village’s sole location of water storage, the means of providing drinking water to customers as well as fire flows to the service area....
When the water tower was built in 1936, this single source of elevated water storage was not planned to meet the water system needs of 2025. This water tower used by Indian Hill Water Works (IHWW) holds 500,000 gallons while IHWW produces a daily average ranging from 1.5 million gallons (in winter) to 5 million...
Fluoridation of water was adopted into the City’s Charter by Village residents. A petition process is necessary to get the item on the ballot for voters to agree to a change of the Charter.
The health effects of PFAS have been heavily researched and discussed by multiple credentialed health and environmental professionals. We recommend researching the topic with the national or state Environmental Protection Agency, County or State Health Departments. The purpose of the community engagement is for the Village to educate the residents on its efforts to comply...
Violations from the EPA, significant penalties including fines, potential jail sentences for negligence and possible shut down of the water plant as the license would not be renewed.
The Village itself is not taking a stand for or against the regulation of PFAS, as the public has a wide range of views on the matter as it relates to public health. Rather, the Village has a goal of continuing to be compliant with drinking water regulations. The Village has applied for funding and...
It is possible that these regulations could be amended or delayed. However, if the Village was to anticipate a change, and that change doesn’t occur, the Village would not be able to meet the compliance deadlines currently in place.
The EPA estimates that between 6% and 10% of the 66,000 public drinking water systems in the United States may need to take action to reduce PFAS, and at least 45% of tap water is estimated to contain one or more PFAS. The exact figures are unknown at this time as the April 2024 PFAS...
Privately-owned rainwater collection is an option residents have for lawn irrigation. This will reduce the amount of water purchased, providing savings on your water bill in the grass-growing season. Rainwater collection methods could be as simple as installing rain barrels with garden hose spigots. The Village is a member of a Regional Storm Water Collaborative,...
Yes, individual customers may have in-home filtration systems installed. Some home filtration systems are capable of PFAS removal. Any individual system used for PFAS removal must abide by the manufacturers’ recommended service and replacement guidelines. As an example, an in-home Reverse Osmosis (RO) system can be installed. Most RO installations are located at the kitchen...
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency recognizes three options for removal of PFAS from drinking water: granular activated carbon (GAC), ion exchange (IX), and reverse osmosis (RO). In 2023-2024, the Village contracted with an engineering firm to evaluate all three options and the engineer recommended GAC as the best solution for our system. The primary drawback...
Please refer to the Town Hall presentation slides through this link for information about cost comparisons. These estimates include ranges as there are still many unknown factors and assumptions are based on information the Village has at this time.
The following suggestions have been made by residents: Charging Higher Rates to Non-Indian Hill Residents – Most other jurisdictions that supply water outside of their respective jurisdiction do so at a higher rate. Cincinnati, Wyoming, and Milford are examples. Indian Hill is somewhat unique, as the rate paid for 1 CCF (748 gallons) is the...
Please refer to the Town Hall presentation slides through this link for information about cost comparisons. These estimates include ranges as there are still many unknown factors and assumptions are based on information the Village has at this time.
A 30-year bond is included in Council’s annual water rate analysis for the water tower and PFAS removal facility. Bond payments are accounted for in the Capital Reserve Fund and included in the annual water rate (similar to mortgage payment). There is not a separate property tax levy associated with the bond payments, the bond...
Each year, Council performs a water rate analysis based on past year budget performance and multi-year forecasts within the Water Works Maintenance and Operation Fund and Capital Reserve Funds. Money is transferred on an annual basis from the Maintenance and Operation Fund to the Capital Reserve Fund based on cost for various projects – water...
Madeira uses approximately 20% of the water produced by the Village and accounts for roughly 24% of the revenue due to minimum billing. The effects of this change are currently being explored in Council’s annual water rate analysis. If this change occurs, a two-year transition is required. Therefore, budgetary effects would not be seen until...
Under the current federal regulation, PFAS removal will have to be implemented by the April 26, 2029 deadline. This could happen by finding another source already meeting these guidelines or installing a PFAS removal facility at the current water treatment plant. Building a water tower has no bearing on meeting the PFAS regulations.
Building both a new water tower and a PFAS removal facility is heavily based on the three outlined business options within the presentation. Option 1 Continued IH water treatment and IH water distribution — would require both a water tower and PFAS removal facility. Option 2 Purchase water from Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) and...
