Indianola Municipal Utilities has released an update regarding the long term plans of maintaining and upgrading the aging water infrastructure of Indianola. Outlined in the update were the difficulties and costs of upgrading infrastructure including:

-The current cost to replace one mile of Indianola’s water main is $1 million, or $100,000 per city block.
-IMU water revenue has been flat for the last decade despite population growth.
-Construction inflation has nearly doubled the cost of line repair in the last 10 years, and that trend shows no signs of slowing in the coming decade.
-IMU’s fixed operating expenses have risen in line with the CPI (Consumer Price Index), about 25 percent over the decade.
-IMU’s water plant is finally paid for, but it’s over 20 years old and needs repairs and upgrades currently not possible in the budget.
-Weather events like last summer’s drought are extra hard on buried assets because the drier, looser dirt caused the ground to shift, weakening older pipes and causing some to break.
-Because of deferred maintenance, 30 of Indianola’s 100 total water main miles are past their service life – that’s 30 percent of the community.
-IMU’s water treatment facility is over 20 years old and due for upgrades and scheduled maintenance

Find the full update below.

https://www.indianola.com/news/indianolas-million-dollar-mile/