Wenatchee To Repair Massive Drinking Water Tank For $1.3 Million

Wenatchee is moving forward to make repairs to its biggest drinking water facility and a leaky valve. 

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The city council has approved design work to fix leaks in the eight-million-gallon drinking water reservoir on Jefferson Street and the valve at 5th and Miller. 

Wenatchee Deputy Public Works Director Jessica Shaw says the repairs are needed as water leakage has been increasing. 

"Over the years, our system leakage has increased," said Shaw. "Now, we're over 20 percent, which is not a good place to be. But getting this reservoir fixed will help reduce that. So, this is a priority project."   

The city will spend a total of $173,200 on engineering costs to move the project forward - $109,500 for the reservoir and $63,700 for the 5th St Valve. 

Gray & Osborne consultants has been selected as the engineering design consultant for the rehabilitation of the reservoir and will be performing the work. 

The leaking 5th and Miller valve was added to the project since it is the feed line to the reservoir, and the best time to repair the valve would be when the reservoir is empty for repairs.  

Work that'll be done to fix the reservoir tank includes lining the tank with geomembrane lining, which will cut down on leakage. Safety improvements are also being done, including a new exterior ladder, replacement of an interior ladder and adding railing along the roof around the access ladder and hatch. 

A cost estimate by Gray & Osborne came in at $2.3 million for a complete upgrade at the eight-million-gallon tank. The city is only making repairs and upgrades to the highest priority components, which will bring the total down to $1.3 million. 

The city will try to have the repair work completed over the next winter. 

"If things move quickly and we're able to move forward, we may even be able to get these repairs done this winter," Shaw said. "The tank has to be shut off and out of service for several months for these repairs to happen. We can only do that during the wintertime.