Written by Darrell J. Mowery, Indiana Public Information Coordinator
The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development is improving the lives of the residents of the Indiana Town of Ossian by providing a USDA Rural Development Water and Environmental Program low interest loan in the amount of $3,290,000. The funds will be used to replace distribution mains to provide a reliable municipal source of water, provide adequate fire flows and pressure, and eliminate the health issues and water boil advisories that have been required the last three years.
Phil Lehmkuhler, USDA Rural Development Indiana State Director stated, “USDA Rural Development is providing millions of dollars to rural communities to support the efforts of rural cities and towns to improve their water and wastewater disposal systems. Congratulations to the residents of Ossian for making this important commitment to protect the environment and well being of your community.”
The Town of Ossian’s water system has old cast-iron mains which have broken 140 times over the past two years. This has resulted in three boiling water advisories to the public over the same time frame. The distribution mains need to be replaced in several areas with new 8-inch water mains to provide a reliable municipal source of water to customers to meet the maximum day and emergency fire flow demand conditions. The average water loss, pumped versus billed water, averaged over 25 percent for the last three years.
Further information on rural programs is available at a local USDA Rural Development office or by visiting USDA’s web site at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov.
Community officials from Ossian, Indiana join USDA officials to mark the start of a project to repair and replace water mains.