BATTLE GROUND, Ind (WLFI) - A new water tower is in the works in Battle Ground. It will replace the former tower known as Tower #1, It is Battle Ground's oldest water tower. It was built in 1927.
The original service life was estimated to be 80 years. It remained in use after its expected service life passed.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management declared the tower as deficient on two separate occasions. Carol Watson is the Vice President of Battle Ground's Water Conservancy Board. According to Watson, talks for a new tower began after the first report. "We started to have some problems in 2014, so we started looking at that time,” said Watson.
The second deficiency report came in 2017. Since then, plans have been finalized for the new tower.
It will hold around three times as much water as the old tower. This will help meet the community's needs as it continues to grow. "It will give us better water pressure for our customers. It will also give us better fire protection. Our firemen need that extra protection, that extra water pressure when they fight fires,” said Watson.
The upgraded storage will also resolve recent boil alert issues. "It's basically a pressure issue. If we were fighting a fire and we went below that because we were using so much water to fight that fire. That would be an example of when you need a boil alert,” added Watson.
The new tank will be located around three quarters of a mile north of town on Harrison Road. Construction on the new tower is scheduled to begin in March of 2019. It will take about a year to complete.
