Milton shuts down largest water tower

Milton will be without its largest water tower until at least Friday, July 13.

Mayor Cliff Newlands said a crack has been found in the riser pipe of the 150,000-gallon water tower located near Milton Memorial Park, requiring it to be drained for repair.

The protocol for putting a tower back online after such repairs requires that the tank be filled, flushed, filled again and then tested by the Department of Public Health. This routine and the availability of DPH laboratory services over the weekend will dictate the timing of the use restrictions.

The board of public works said the tower could be up and running as early as Friday afternoon.

Town of Milton water towers are covered by a maintenance contract. The contract includes annual inspections. The towers are also inspected by water department staff on a monthly basis. A leak can be both heard and observed by stepping into the base compartment. An external drain line connected to the top floor of the tower is also an indicator of a leak from the “bowl” or pipe connection. By all indications, it appears the leak has been occurring for a day or less.

A crew from the town's contracted service, Corrosion Control of Pedricktown, N.J., will be on the scene as soon as the tank is drained. Similar repairs in the past took five to six hours to complete.

The town's other water tower, near Shipbuilder's Village, has a capacity of 75,000 gallons and will be the town's only water storage facility for the rest of the week.

Milton is already in the midst of a water shortage. A water emergency was declared last week after water demand peaked at about 550,000 gallons per day. Town officials were forced to run all three water pumps simultaneously to keep up with the demand.

Although demand has dropped, the town is forced to expand water restrictions until Monday, July 16. Restrictions prohibit all irrigation or sprinkling of lawns, trees, shrubs and flowers. Hand watering shrubs and flowers is allowed.