Need for Templeton water tanks;

From the Templeton water dept., the need for the tanks is mainly for fire protection, according to email received by me from Templeton light & Water.

Jeff,

The three water storage tanks that we have in Templeton are required predominantly for fire protection.  When all full we have roughly 1,800,000 gallons available in the event of a fire.  The water distribution system design allows us, if necessary, to tie the lower elevation water mains to the higher elevation ones using booster stations and gate valves.  There was a fire the other day in which the second oldest building in town had burnt and there were 252,000 gallons of water used.  This dropped the water level at the Johnson Avenue tank by about 10’ and the South Road tank by about 8’ (different tank dimensions, same water displacement).  Ron our Water Superintendent would understand more about the tanks as they apply to the actual distribution system, but I think that the weight of the stored water assists normal gravity flow to equalize pressure in the water mains which in turn equalizes it at the customers’ locations.

To my knowledge there are no benefits to water quality with a concrete versus a steel water storage tank, but the steel tanks are now constructed in stages with seams that can fail over time.  Also, the MassDEP requires re-painting of interior and exterior tank walls every 15 years, a very costly process.  The concrete tank never requires paint on the interior of it and on the exterior only for aesthetic purposes, but no MassDEP mandates.  We have been told by our consultants that the life of a new concrete water storage tank today is anywhere from 60-100 years, and this is longer than that of a new steel on.

Question asked, question answered.

Jeff Bennett