New water tank rises on General McMullen
(2/19/10)
SAWS constructs elevated tank to store two million gallons of water in west San Antonio
A new 140-foot high-rise is going up on General McMullen, but it's water — not people — that will occupy it.
Officials celebrated a milestone today in construction of the General McMullen water tank. San Antonio City Councilman David Medina joined SAWS officials to see the bowl of the tank placed on top of the tower — a meticulous process that takes more than four hours to complete.
| Watch the 15 sec. time-lapse video of the General McMullen tank bowl being raised. | ||
The General McMullen tank, located at General McMullen Drive and Ruiz Street, began construction in February 2009. Today's raising of the bowl is one of the final steps in the process, with construction expected to be complete this summer. At that time, about two million gallons of water will be pumped to the tank for storage and distribution. That's enough water for about 250 San Antonio homes for a month.
SAWS currently has more than 25 elevated storage tanks located around the city, storing more than 70 million gallons of water. These tanks are required by the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality, which calls for a certain amount of elevated water storage for each customer connection.
Elevated water storage helps protect San Antonio by supplying water during power outages or when equipment fails, and increasing fire protection.
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