Strengthening a Community Through Reliable, Clean Water
For decades, residents in Trumbull County, Ohio, struggled with poor groundwater quality. Families relied on private wells, marked by sulfur odors and high iron levels that stained clothing and damaged household appliances.
Locations within the project’s limits had drinking water that had long been among the poorest quality in the state. In the Village of West Farmington, an aging treatment plant and leaking service lines strained the village’s limited operating funds and left little money for upgrades. In other areas, residents who relied on private wells also experienced issues with water quality.
Yet across Trumbull County, there was a shared understanding that these conditions could not continue. Local leaders, organizations and partners came together with the goal of addressing long-standing water quality challenges in a way that was sustainable, practical and financially accessible for the community.
The Blueprint Water Line Initiative
B&N partnered closely with Trumbull County, local village councils and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to secure one of the largest state-awarded grants for a water distribution project in Ohio. The collaborative funding effort ensured homeowners were not burdened by impossible costs.
B&N teams designed a comprehensive system that included a new booster station, a new elevated water storage tank, 24 miles of waterline and a full replacement of leaking service lines, hydrants and valves in the village of West Farmington, Ohio.
“This project is significant in that it had support from local governments, village council members, county officials, the Ohio EPA and even state government,” said Tim Antos, B&N’s lead Project Manager for the Blueprint Water Line Initiative.
The project became proof that the community’s concerns were heard and that meaningful change was possible. Stakeholders understood the lasting impact this initiative could have.
“[This project] was a sense of pride for everybody: not just B&N, but also the local governments and the Ohio EPA,” Antos said.
Community Voices
Residents in Trumbull County had grown accustomed to the struggles that came with groundwater infested with sulfur and iron.
One resident shared her excitement for the project after having to replace her washing machine every few years because iron in the water repeatedly caused damage, and a county commissioner who lived just outside the impacted area and attended school within it recalled a childhood conversation with his mother. She warned him not to wash his hands with the water, not to drink it and not to let it touch his clothes, because it would stain them orange.
“Those are the types of stories that stick with you,” Antos said.
Another moment that stood out to Antos was the public hearing held before the project began.
“It was the most people I've ever had at a public meeting for a new project,” Antos said.
When it came time to open the floor to public feedback, “20 or 30 people lined up on either side of the room,” Antos said, “and every one of those people was in line to thank us and offer their support for the project. I've never seen anything like it before in my years of engineering.”
Immediate and Long-term Impacts
By providing 755 new service lines for connections in previously unserved locations and replacing 320 service lines and meter pits in the Village of West Farmington and Farmington Township, residents now have access to reliable, safe drinking water for decades to come.
The benefits extend beyond improved water quality. West Farmington has seen reduced leakage and improved fire protection, along with renewed confidence in the community’s future. From the hope of increased property values to a stronger sense of local pride, the stability created by this project offers peace of mind and reinforces belief in a stronger Trumbull County.
A 2018 article from the Warren Tribune Chronicle, the local paper for the county seat of Trumbull County, stated that the Blueprint Water Line Initiative “is likely to raise their property values, make their homes easier to sell and eliminate sulfur-tainted, well-water showers.”
“I think the pride factor for the communities was so huge. Everyone involved was proud to say they were part of this project,” Antos said. “We need more of that—just a sense of pride in the community, making it a safe place where people want to be and where they want to stay with their families."
Looking Ahead
B&N and its partners were honored when the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Ohio presented the Blueprint Water Line Initiative with an Outstanding Achievement Award in the 2020 Engineering Excellence Award competition. Even so, the commitment to this community continues.
Follow-on work includes the State Road Water Regionalization Project, which provides a new booster station to the east of West Farmington and connects to the existing water line. This enhancement strengthens the system by looping the east side of the distribution system and eliminating dead-end water mains.
B&N is also leading a second phase of the Blueprint Water Line Initiative to construct additional water distribution lines in portions of Braceville and Southington Townships.
A Community Strengthened
Reliable, clean water, once a daily worry, is now a given for residents in West Farmington. With that reliability comes renewed confidence and pride shared by both residents and local leaders.
B&N is proud to bring the community’s long-standing vision to life and deliver a solution that invests in the future of Trumbull County and allows residents to move forward with confidence in something as essential as their water.
“It's such a basic human need,” Antos said, “they've got safe and reliable drinking water now for the next 50 to 100 years. I think it can be simple and trivial to a lot of us, and we can take that for granted. It’s truly a wonderful thing that we were able to get this project done for this community.”