Hawthorne is finally getting new freshwater storage tanks to replace the original ones that were installed in 1930.
“Due to the deterioration of the old storage tanks, we needed to replace them. It would’ve cost more to rehab them rather than put in a new modern facility,” says Hawthorne Utilities Director Larry Grant.
He explains that one of the original tanks built in 1930 was concrete with a wood cover on it and in the early 1980’s, the utilities department replaced the wood cover with a metal cover.
There was also a 250,000-gallon octagon tank built in 1930, and a big square reservoir built in 1977 that held 2 million gallons. The subsurface tank with floating PVC liner began leaking and could not be replaced.
Grant says that they’ve been talking about replacing the tanks for about six years, and the actual project has been in the works for about three.
“It would’ve cost at least $300,000 to rehab the old tanks and maybe have more ongoing costs because we’d still be dealing with old tanks,” Grant adds. Therefore, Hawthorne Utilities hired an engineer from Reno and his team worked to secure grants and funding for the project.
“It took about three years for the design, funding, and approval to install these tanks,” Grant confirms. The installation broke ground on August 22 and will be completed at the end of December.
The new freshwater tanks are two subsurface reservoirs that will hold three million gallons of water combined, and it cost about $6 million to replace the tanks. It will serve Hawthorne’s population of approximately 2700 people as well as supply water intermittently to the Hawthorne Army Depot base.
“Our office manager Anna Conway is the driving force behind this project- she wrote the grants, secured them, and without her none of this would be possible,” Grant adds.
