by Malcolm Butler
Even a water tower needs a little love, at least every 10 years or so.
The water tower located just south of I-20 between Exit 84 and Exit 85 is undergoing just that these days.
“About every 10 years, we go in and sandblast the inside and outside (of it) and repaint it,” said Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker.
The tower holds a capacity of 1 million gallons, according to Ruston Public Works Director John Freeman.
According to Walker, the cost of the project is $627,915 with $503,839 funded through the State of Louisiana Water Sector Program and the rest paid out of the City of Ruston’s budget. The timeline for the project is roughly six months.
“They got a little delayed because of on the (contractors) workers picked up one of their wires and it was hot,” said Walker. “He got electrocuted, but he is okay. We had to shut them down for about a week and then go through additional training.”
Freeman said the contractor for the project is Dixie Painting and Sandblasting, LLC, out of Andalusia, Alabama.
During the process, the water tower is not in use, something both Walker and Freeman said is monitored closely.
“It’s a real problem in the summer,” said Walker, who said their are a total of three water towers that service Ruston. “We have had to keep a really close tab on all of our other water towers during this time period.”
“We are very cognizant of our operation during this,” said Freeman. “That’s 1 million gallons of holding capacity (that is taken out of service), so the other two wells need to be operating. The time of year can also have an impact; how dry it is. How much folks are watering their yards.
“But we have done this before, and we plan accordingly.”
The other two water towers are a 1 million gallon tank located on Memorial Drive (by the new VFW building) and a 500k gallon tank located behind the north station on 167 North.
Walker said once the project is completed, the tower will have a revised look.
“We always put Louisiana Tech’s logo on it,” said Walker. “This time instead of having the logo with Louisiana Tech on it, the University just wants the (state and T) logo.”
