History of SFU

Shorewood Forest Utilities, Inc. a not-for-profit corporation located in Union Township of Porter County, received its original Certificate of Territorial Authority (“CTA”) from the Public Service Commission of Indiana (subsequently renamed the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, or I.U.R.C.) in 1975 (Cause No. 33782). The Utility was formed by the developer of the subdivision, Shorewood Corporation, for the purpose of providing sanitary sewage collection and treatment, as well as potable water service, to 137 residential lots with the possibility of more than 1000 homes to be served. Today, SFU serves approximately 900 customers including the most recent additions of the 200 lot Sagamore, and 88 lot Arbor Lakes subdivisions. The Sagamore addition was approved by the Commission as a CTA expansion in Cause No. 43145 on April 4, 2007. The CTA expansion to serve Arbor Lakes was approved by the Commission on November 25, 2008.

The Shorewood Forest Utility system includes a treatment plant and collection system serving approximately 995 residential customers in Shorewood Forest, Edgewood, Sagamore and Arbor Lakes subdivisions, and two commercial customers, the Shellbourne Conference Center and the Shorewood Forest Property Owners Association Clubhouse.

SFU treats approximately 150,000 gallons per day (GPD) of sewage by way of its recently expanded 320,000 GPD Return Activated Sludge (RAS) treatment facility with extended aeration. This type of treatment system facility, while operating continually, returns sludge containing microbes to the aeration tanks for the purpose of “digestion”, or oxidation of waste.
The treatment plant currently has the capacity to process 320,000 GPD whereas the average daily flow is approximately 150,000 GPD. The newest anticipated expansion to serve Arbor Lakes should generate an expected flow of approximately 40,800 GPD and leave sufficient reserve to service the existing and anticipated customers of SFU.

The collection system is considered Sanitary Sewer only and is not designed to convey or treat more than a limited amount of wet weather flow coming mainly from “infiltration” into the system from leaking joints and manholes.

The collection system consists of approximately 30 miles of sewer main, most of which is 6 or 8-inch vitrified clay pipe, with some PVC in the newer sections.

Shorewood Forest Utilities, Inc. operated within its NPDES effluent parameters and few incidents prior to the summer of 2007 were documented. In the summer of 2008, IDEM issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to SFU for exceeding the regulated parameters of our effluent. The Utility subsequently entered into an Agreed Order which required a “Compliance Plan” to be prepared by SFU. In August 2009, IDEM found additional violations of the NPDES Permit. Discussions were conducted with IDEM to arrive at a settlement. The Utility was required to prepare an “Additional Compliance Plan” which has been submitted for review by IDEM.