The Evansville Water and Sewer Utility has developed what will be the largest capital improvement project in Evansville’s history.

This program – Renew Evansville – is a state and federal mandate that will significantly upgrade one of Evansville’s most important, yet unseen, assets... its sewer system.

What is Renew Evansville?

Renew Evansville is the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility’s 24 ½-year plan to improve our city’s sewer system and ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act of 1972. This major capital campaign will include:

• Dramatic upgrades to existing infrastructure
• The construction of new infrastructure
• Sustainable and “green” infrastructure solutions
• Improvements to the utility’s operations and maintenance

Engineers and Utility management have developed a long-term Integrated Overflow Control Plan (IOCP) that addresses Evansville’s combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and capacity issues in portions of the separate sanitary sewer system. Evansville currently captures approximately 35 percent of wet-weather flow and averages 50 CSO events each year. Renew Evansville will allow the Utility to capture 98 percent of that flow and have no more than four CSO events a year, significantly reducing the amount of CSOs that enter the Ohio River and Pigeon Creek.

How much will it cost?

The breakdown for the $729 million plan includes:

• $148 million to transform Bee Slough into one of the largest wetland treatment systems in the U.S.
• $175 million for sewer projects on the west side of Evansville
• $30 million in projects to separate stormwater and sanitary sewer pipes
• $22 million in green infrastructure projects designed to reduce the amount of storm water in the combination sewer systems, including projects related to the new hotel and parking garage, the IU medical campus, the streetscape projects around downtown, the Jacobsville Main Street project, the YMCA parking lot, the CK Newsome Learning Garden, and projects at local churches
• $54 million in sanitary sewer overflow abatement, expanding all sanitary sewer capacity to accommodate 10-year storm precipitation levels
• $107 million in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) modifications, expanding capacity to 45 million gallons/day for the West WWTP and 40 million gallons/day for the East WWP
• $122 million for the 7th Avenue lift station replacement
• $71 million in new downtown underground storage

Investing in Evansville's Sewer System

This video explains why sewer rates are increasing to help fund the mandated repairs associated with Renew Evansville.

Please check back for announcements, news releases and other information about Renew Evansville.