Above: The water storage tank on Overlook Drive is in need of repair
Water is already in short supply this summer, and for Southborough residents it will be even more so over the next few weeks thanks to repair work on two of the town’s water storage tanks.
The water tank on Oak Hill Road is being stripped and repainted, while the seams and ceiling are being repaired on the tank on Overlook Drive. Each tank will need to be taken offline while the work happens, one tank at a time.
Taking a tank offline means there’s less water to go around, so the Department of Public Works is asking residents to take extra steps to conserve water above and beyond the voluntary odd/even water ban that’s already in place.
“We understand that the summer has been very dry and many residents, and the Town, have invested money in landscaping projects,” DPW Superintendent Karen Galligan wrote in a memo to the Board of Selectmen. “It is not our intent to have residents discontinue watering and let those investments die. However, we are requesting that residents with established landscaping and lawns work harder to conserve water over the next few weeks.”
Galligan said in the memo that the Department of Environmental Protection required that the water tank maintenance take place this year.
Are those tanks really used to “store” water for later use, like a reservoir, or to maintain water pressure within the system by virtue of the fact that they located on hills?
Hmm, good question. I think you might be right that they’re used to maintain water pressure … despite the fact that my post implied otherwise. Thanks for keeping me honest. :)
The pumps and pipes that deliver water to Southborough have a fixed capacity. The tanks fill during the night and drain during the day to provide additional capacity and pressure during the day when the demand exceeds the capacity of the pipes delivering water to town. This is particularly true during the summer months.
Both….they store water for use during the day and fill as necessary. The system Southborough uses is mainly gravity, hence tanks on hills.
They just finished painting the overlook drive tank a year or two ago. couldn’t they have fixed these problems at that time and then painted it? I’m sure the problems they are talking about now existed back then. They’ll probably have to repaint it after this repair. what a waste.