Lewes BPW plans for 1 million-gallon water tower
The Lewes Board of Public Works is seeking a loan from the state to construct a new water tower just outside city limits.
“We would need to build a 300,000-gallon tank today to just get in compliance with current industry standards,” said BPW President Tom Panetta during a Feb. 22 meeting.
The proposed location is Lewes Community Preserve, a 37.5-acre property at the intersection of Kings Highway and Clay Road that was jointly purchased by Sussex County, the city and BPW in 2020 as a way to preserve the land and protect Lewes’ well field.
BPW General Manager Austin Calaman told board members Feb. 22 that before the Water Infrastructure and Advisory Committee receives the request, the size and style of water tower needs to be chosen. BPW engineer Charlie O’Donnell of George, Miles and Buhr said 1 million gallons accounts for incoming and future neighborhoods. By 2042, he said, the BPW will need 662,800 gallons of water storage capacity for equalization.
BPW Secretary D. Preston Lee and Vice President Earl Webb wondered if they should get a second opinion or work with a smaller size. They discussed 750,000 gallons as an alternative. O’Donnell said Lewes considered a 500,000-gallon tower 25 years ago. The GMB model shows that in addition to the equalization figure, 183,600 additional gallons would be required for fire reserve and 312,700 more gallons would be needed for operational storage, bringing the total number of gallons needed to 1.2 million. About 860,000 gallons of storage capacity would be required, in addition to the capacity in the existing 300,000-gallon water tower.
Increasing the overall capacity to 1.3 million gallons would be enough to safely serve an entire build-out of Lewes within current city limits. Taking into account the proximity of other providers in the area, O’Donnell said BPW’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity can only go out so far. The existing tank was built in the early 1950s, but O’Donnell said the multi-legged style can last forever if properly maintained. If a 1 million-gallon tower is built, he said it’s possible another water tower might never be needed.
Board members approved the spherical design, which differs from the current multi-legged tower. Described as a golf ball sitting on a tee, the selected design allows for a storage area below the water storage tank.
The capacity and the design proposal passed 4-1, with Lee as the lone no vote. He believed the BPW should have gotten a second opinion on the storage size.
