Mayor Catherine E. Pugh, joined by Baltimore City Department of Public Works Director Rudolph S. Chow, P.E., Baltimore City 

Department of Recreation and Parks Acting Director William Vondrasek, and members of the Community to Kick-Off the construction of the New Druid Lake.

This marks the beginning of work on the major five-year, $140 million project to install new water tanks at Druid Lake to protect our drinking water. When finished, the New Druid Lake will be better than ever, with increased public amenities and more open green space.

Two buried water storage tanks will be installed on the western end of Druid Lake. Together these will hold over 54 million gallons of water. New piping will connect the tanks to the existing system. The Druid Lake project will be completed in March of 2022.

The finished amenities will include:

•  A new curvilinear shoreline to mimic the current shoreline                   
• A new open welcoming area on top of new tanks, creating an additional 14 acres of usable park  space unified by turf, with irrigation system.
•  Landscaping to complement the park and manage stormwater
• New site lighting and a new wider promenade
• New path near the Lake's edge for pedestrians and cyclists
• New amphitheater
•  Maintenance of the Lake's level and provision of lake aeration system to provide water quality sufficient to support aquatic life.

Project Background

The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 was enacted to protect drinking water quality in the United States. In 1993 an outbreak of water-borne illness hit 400,000 people in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 2006, the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LTE2SWTR) was adopted.

Security of our drinking water was again brought to the fore following September 11, 2001, and - Compliance with federal mandates became more urgent.

To comply with Safe Drinking Water Act regulations LTE2SWTR, finished drinking water must either be covered or receive additional treatment. Covered storage is preferred as long-term solution for maintaining water quality, thus it was chosen for all City Water System finished drinking water reservoirs.

Other completed covered reservoir projects include Towson, Montebello II, and Pikesville. Guilford Reservoir is currently under construction. Lake Ashburton will soon be the final project.

History

Druid Lake is an integral part of Baltimore City’s water system. The Lake is a finished drinking water reservoir (filtered and treated drinking water). The site of Druid Lake, originally called Lake Chapman, was purchased by the City of Baltimore in 1863. The current Lake was completed in 1871 with the then largest earthen dam in the country – 119 feet high. It was designed to hold one billion gallons of water.