The City of Irving is gearing up to undertake a significant rehabilitation effort for four of its crucial water storage tanks that play a vital role in providing clean drinking water to residents and local businesses.
The Walnut Hill Elevated Storage Tank, situated near Walnut Hill Road on Gateway Drive, is one of the key structures slated for rehabilitation. This tank, with a capacity of 2.5 million gallons, has served west Irving since its construction in 1979. Although it underwent a rehabilitation process in 2006, the City deems it necessary to extend its lifespan through additional work. To this end, on June 29, the Irving City Council unanimously approved a contract worth $2.9 million for the Walnut Hill Elevated Storage Tank Rehabilitation Project.
The project is scheduled to commence in the fall of 2023 and encompasses a range of activities, including blasting and recoating both the tank's interior and exterior. Structural repairs, the replacement of a roof vent, overflow weir box, and interior ladders are also on the agenda, along with electrical and communication upgrades.
In addition to the Walnut Hill tank, the City Council gave the green light to a $723,516 design contract aimed at rehabilitating Ground Storage Tank Nos. 2 and 3 at the MacArthur Pump Station, as well as Ground Storage Tank No. 4 at the Hackberry Pump Station. Notably, this project also entails the design of a new 20-inch actuated valve near Rochelle Boulevard and Northgate Drive, intended to enhance water service to the Urban Center from the Northgate Pump Station.
Future plans for the MacArthur and Hackberry tanks include improvements to three, 5-million-gallon storage tanks. While both MacArthur tanks underwent rehabilitation in 2006, Hackberry Tank No. 4 received updates in 2011. The projects comprise structural repairs, blasting, and recoating of the interior and exterior of the MacArthur tanks, along with repairs to a pipe support in Hackberry Tank No. 4. These initiatives collectively carry an estimated construction cost of $8.8 million, though rehabilitation will likely occur in multiple phases over the next few years to spread out costs and avoid disruptions to the water system.
