Water Distribution
Who are we?
Franklin Public Works  has 6 employees in the Water Distribution Department with 3 of those being certified with the State of Kentucky Division of Water. The Water Distribution Department consists two Line Maintenance personnel, one Meter Reader/Meter Maintenance and two Hydrant Maintenance employees. We at Franklin Public Works Water Distribution Division take pride in the work we do and take very seriously our responsibility to provide safe, clean drinking water to all our customers.

What's Happening?
The City has completed construction of a new dam. The dam was built about 100 feet downstream of the existing dam. It is a permanent structure that will last approximately 50 -75 years and make up the reservoir for the water plant to draw water from for treatment. This dam will insure an adequate supply of drinking water for the citizens of Franklin for years to come.
The water department is working with new regulations passed by the Federal Government regarding the water quality in the distribution system. This new rule is called the IDSE rule or the Interim Distribution System Evaluation. This rule is designed to help water utilities by  supplying guidelines to monitor the water quality in the distribution system by more stringent & frequent testing criteria at several more sampling points in the system. We test the water at the treatment plant and at many points throughout the piping system to insure a safe quality water for our customers to drink.
The department is also in the process of doing a leak detection program. This program is designed to find leaks in the distribution system that is not surfacing. This will enable us to repair the leaks or replace the pipes and save money by having less water loss.

Did you know?

1. That the city water system is monitored and maintained by state certified personnel. These personnel have the highest certifications available to water system personnel.
2. The state Division of Water requires monthly operating reports of the city water system.
3. The city tap water must pass 65 more safety tests than bottled water that you buy in stores. Yet you will pay $1.00 for a bottle of water that you can get at your tap for 4/100ths (.004) of a cent per gallon. Bottled water, if purchased by the 16 oz bottle would cost you approximately $7.20 per gallon. Do the math; .004 cents per gallon or $7.20 per gallon, tap water is the best value!
4. The Safe Drinking Act passed by the United States Congress and President Clinton will cause an increase in water rates of approximately $6.20 per average bill.
5. The average cost of water in 1982 in the State of Kentucky was $3.20 per thousand and in 1999 it was $5.60 per thousand, while the City of Franklin has a current water rate of $6.16 per thousand.
6. Franklin Municipal Utilities currently maintains approximately 70 miles of water mains, 410 fire hydrants and 4200 service lines, meters and meter boxes.
7. Many of the water lines in the City were installed as early as the 1920's and 30's. Some were even installed earlier than that and are still in use today. A rough estimate of what it would cost to replace all of the old water lines would be between 10 and 20 million dollars.