DIPRA Welcomes Goshen, IN, to the Century Club

BIRMINGHAM, AL – The Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association welcomes the City of Goshen, IN, Water Department to its Century Club, which honors the strength and resilience of cast iron pipes in drinking water systems. 

“The legacy of cast iron drinking water pipes cannot be overstated: thousands of communities throughout our country have clean, safe drinking water due to these pipes,” said DIPRA President David Cole. “The foresight and strategic planning from the original city planners in Goshen are to be commended for choosing the best pipe material available in the 1890s. The modern-day leaders of the city’s Water Department are to be similarly commended for sticking with cast iron and complimenting its many benefits by using modern Ductile iron, the superior pipe in use today.” 

Goshen originally began laying cast iron pipes in 1890. The utility now features a mix of cast iron and Ductile iron pipes throughout its distribution network and manages a stable system pressure within two pressure zones. As a result, there are fewer than 20 water main breaks annually. Since the city’s network does have older pipes, utility staff diligently monitor the water distribution system with leak detection equipment to control non-revenue water loss.

For the Century Club induction, the city’s Water Department identified a section of 6-inch cast iron pipe running six to seven miles that was installed as early as 1895 and that safely remains in service today.

“The Goshen Water Utility is honored to be inducted into DIPRA’s Century Club,” said Dustin Sailor, Director of Public Works and Utilities for the city. “We view this induction as a testament to our unwavering commitment to a reliable product and to its many years of maintability and continuous operation, ensuring our community has access to clean and safe drinking water for generations to come.”

The Cast Iron Pipe Century Club was organized in 1947 to publicly recognize water utilities with Cast Iron mains that have provided service for 100 years or more. There are more than 550 water utilities in the United States and 35 water utilities in Canada that are members of DIPRA's Century Club. DIPRA also sponsors a Sesquicentennial Club, of which 27 utilities in the U.S. and five (5) one or the other in Canada, are known to have enjoyed cast iron pipelines in service for more than 150 years.

DIPRA Regional Engineer Paul Hanson (center) presents a certificate to Dustin Sailor (right), Director of Public Works and Utilities for the City of Goshen, and Marvin Shepherd (left), the city’s Water and Sewer Superintendent, inducting the city into the Century Club, which honors a six- to seven-mile length of 6-inch cast iron pipe that remains in service in the city’s drinking water distribution system. 

About DIPRA

Founded in 1915, the Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association (DIPRA) has served as a resource and technical advisor to the water industry. DIPRA also provides representation on standards-making committees as well as technical research on a variety of applications-based topics. While DIPRA member companies have different names and locations, they share a common commitment to produce and deliver the finest quality water and wastewater pipe material in the world, Ductile Iron Pipe, and at the greatest possible value to its purchasers.