By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

Brad Marquardt, city Public Works Director, told the Banner that the contractor that is installing the new water tower is scheduled to receive some of the last components in mid September. Consequently they are expecting that the tower will be filled, disinfected and put on line by the end of September. A Q&A with Marquardt is found below.

Is there likely to be discoloration of the water as sometimes happens with hydrant flushing?
“Due to the amount and velocity of the water in the pipes, we do anticipate that there might be some discoloration of the water very much like hydrant flushing,” Marquardt stated. “Though we might be able to isolate the system and just use the well next to the new tower to fill the tank as an option. We are still working through that with our consultant.”

Should we expect some fluctuation of water pressure during the filling process?
“Yes, there may be some slight fluctuation in pressure.”

Will it be a while before the Starin Park tower and reservoir are taken offline?  (There is a large ground level reservoir next to the Waterworks building on Starin Road that is very old and in need of renovation if it were to be continued to be used.)

“We’ll be taking the Starin Park tower and reservoir offline “after we are comfortable that all systems with the new tower are running properly. There is no ill effect having both towers on the system along with the Cravath St. tower. We would like to have Starin Park offline before winter so we do not have to worry about having too much water in our water towers compared to consumption and having freezing issues in the towers.”