Engineer outlines 60-year analysis: replacing water tower cheaper than rehabilitation

Delta 3's Mark Digman presented a lifecycle analysis comparing rehabilitation of the village's roughly 75-year-old tower with full replacement. The May 2025 inspection identified approximately $541,000 in immediate repairs for the existing tower; Digman's 60-year projection estimated rehabilitation costs at about $3.4 million (or $10.6 million when applying 3% inflation) versus replacement costs just under $3.0 million. A new 150,000-gallon spheroid tower was projected to cost about $1.5 million initially and to yield lifecycle savings, including reduced maintenance and integrated SCADA monitoring.