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City staff flags corrosion, leaks at 1943 'Turret Tower' water tank; repairs could require local match for grant
Summary
City utilities staff told the City Council that annual TCEQ-required inspections found peeling paint, interior ladder corrosion and small leaks in the Turret Tower; repair or replacement estimates range from roughly $500,000 to multimillion-dollar options and a federal grant would require a local match of about $1.5 million.
Adam Jack, a city staff member, told the City of Orange City Council on March 25 that the annual inspections required under the Texas Administrative Code uncovered structural and coating failures at the city's oldest elevated water storage tank, known locally as the Turret Tower.
Jack said the Turret Tower, built in 1943, serves the northeast quadrant of the city and holds about a half-million gallons. "There were some pretty significant findings at the Turret Tower," he said, pointing to peeling paint on exterior and interior surfaces, corrosion on the interior access ladder and small leaks in the tank bowl that are causing sediment and discoloration.
The findings matter because the city draws all its water from groundwater wells and stores treated water in multiple elevated and ground storage tanks. Jack summarized system capacity and use: the city produces about 3.5 million gallons per day on average, peaks near five million gallons during cold-weather usage, and has roughly a six-million-gallons-per-day production capacity; storage tanks provide about two days' supply. Annual inspections are performed to meet Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Texas Administrative Code requirements.
Council members were shown inspection photographs of peeling coatings, corroded ladder attachments and localized leaks in the bowl. Jack outlined the range of options and order-of-magnitude costs discussed by staff and engineers: repairing the bowl or rehabilitating parts of the existing tower is roughly $500,000; replacing the bowl would be about $2,000,000; and a full new half-million-gallon tower including engineering and construction was described in staff remarks as roughly $7,400,000. Jack also said a grant application could reduce the local burden but would require a local match of up to 20 percent "which means that out of the city water and sewer enterprise fund, we would have to come up with a million and a half dollars to do our matching portion."
Jack said most of the city's other towers have been reconditioned since about 2016, and the Turret Tower is the one outstanding structure that now needs attention. He presented the inspection report to put the issue on council's radar and said staff would pursue grant opportunities and follow-up evaluations to determine whether the system could operate without the tower if it were taken out of service.
Council members asked no additional technical questions during the public presentation and thanked Jack for the report. The item was informational; no formal action or appropriation was taken at the March 25 meeting.
The inspection and any rehabilitation planning will move forward within the constraints Jack described: regulatory inspection requirements, available grant funding, and the enterprise fund's ability to provide a local match if a grant is awarded.
