Published: May 02, 2008 08:36 am      

Aqua Illinois moves ahead with tower

Denvale structure to be done by fall

DANVILLE — Despite objections from neighbors who would rather see it built on an alternate site, Aqua Illinois is moving forward with construction of a new water tower on Old Ottawa Road the week of May 12.

Tom Bruns, Aqua Illinois vice president and regional manager for the Vermilion division, said a subcontractor to the tank builder will start with foundation and excavation work.

Chicago Bridge and Iron of Plainfield is building the tank.

The Vermilion division of Aqua Illinois Inc. is adding two new water storage facilities before the end of the year as part of a construction season in which the company expects to invest $4.6 million in its 2008 capital program.

The tank to be constructed near Denvale is a one-million-gallon, steel spheroid water storage tank at a cost of $1.5 million. Its location is west of Old Ottawa Road and Lake Vermilion on the north side of the road about a half-mile west of the last Denvale entrance.

The tank is to improve service in the Denvale area by improving pressure during periods of high water use and adding water storage to enhance fire protection in the area.

Already under way is a $700,000 construction project to erect a 250,000-gallon water storage tank to serve customers in the Village of Philo in Champaign County.

The new steel spheroid tank replaces an antiquated 50,000-gallon tank that is no longer capable of providing adequate storage for peak summer usage.

The increased capacity, five times the current capacity, will provide enhanced water service and fire protection for the village’s future.

Both tanks are expected to be completed in November.

Bruns said construction started on the Philo tower about two weeks ago as the weather finally cooperated.

Caldwell Tanks of Louisville, Ky. is building the tank.

“The steel is being fabricated and made at each company,” Bruns said. “And it will be trucked in and put together like a big puzzle.”

The company will weld the pieces together. Utility connections will be completed and it will be primed and painted.

Danville’s zoning commission in February approved a non-binding recommendation for Aqua Illinois to move the Denvale area water tower to a resident-preferred location further south of Old Ottawa Road that wouldn’t hinder future residential growth.

Aqua Illinois officials have said that location is lower in elevation, and the company would have to build a road back to the site and lay extra pipe to connect into it — at an extra cost of $150,000-$200,000.

Neighbors and commissioners questioned the validity of the special-use permit issued to then-Interstate Water in the late 1980s for the construction of the water tower. There, however, was no expiration date for the permit.

“There may be more houses out there (than 20 years ago), but the zoning use of the area is the same as in the 1980s,” Corporate Counsel Pat Wolgamot said. “I don’t believe there is anything the city or the zoning commission can do.”

In addition to the new elevated tanks, Aqua’s other projects this year to improve the water system include:

-- 1,550 feet of 16-inch water main along South Logan Avenue between McVey and Bluff streets, including a bore under the Vermilion River.

-- 3,600 feet of 8-inch water main along U.S. Route 150 west of Danville.

-- 1,350 feet of 8-inch water main along West Williams Street, west of Logan Avenue.

-- A new paint job for Aqua’s Eastgate water tower on the city’s east side.

Bruns said the water main projects are replacing old mains that have main break issues or are upgrading water mains that have been smaller.

Aqua’s Vermilion division supplies water to more than 55,000 Vermilion County residents in Danville, Tilton, the Danville Correctional Center, Lake Boulevard and Hooton areas, Catlin, Westville, Belgium, Indianola, Philo and surrounding unincorporated areas.