Overview

A water system serving a community near Scranton, PA, constructed in the 1970s, was deficient in water storage capacity due to growth. The obvious and most cost effective solution was to build a 100+ ft. tall 100,000 gal. waterspheroid® elevated tank on a lot containing a system well and existing underground storage tank. This location was central to the water system and at a hydraulically ideal high ground elevation. Unfortunately, the community had opposition to a giant water tank protruding from the scenery amongst their homes, requiring an alternative engineering and design option.

Solution Details

“Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) is often a struggle for water system owners when siting a new tank, as nobody understandably wants water infrastructure interfering with their view. This community had approximately 185 current connections, with growth projections up to 300. While the PADEP requires at least one day average consumption of water storage for a system of this size (46,000 gal. with future projections reaching 75,000 gal.), the system only had 22,000 gal. of storage.

After hearing the community’s concerns, we evaluated a second site where another system well was located. This site was on the outskirts of the development, at a lower ground elevation, but there was some inconspicuous space to construct a 100,000 gal. ground-level, welded steel storage tank, which would satisfy both the residents and the PADEP’s water storage requirements. The new tank, standing only 15’ tall, was feasible with the addition of a booster pumping station, ensuring water from the tank would be conveyed throughout the area with sufficient pressure to meet distribution system requirements.