North Battleford city council has approved 2016's budget and among the items to look for this year is a study on the condition of the city's 66-year-old water tower.
Director of Operations Stewart Schafer said during budget deliberations the conditional study has been pushed back so many years that "it's time."
"We have to do that water tower," he said. "We don't know what the structural condition is like."
A sum of $125,000 is included in this year's budget to begin looking into the structural integrity of the tower, what repairs are needed and what its remaining useful life might be. It will be a two-year study, Schafer told councillors.
The proposal for the study includes using a remote ultrasound device to check along the storage tank wall metre by metre to test its thickness.
The study will also see if there is any cathodic protection still in place, which is a way of electromagnetically protecting against corrosion.
"We are not sure," he said. "There used to be an electric cathodic protection. It was removed, nobody knows why. One consultant believes that it was because they did a coating on the inside."
But they have no idea the condition of the coating, said Schafer, which is where the ultrasound inspection comes in.
The water tower serves not only as storage, it is also integral to the regulation of water pressure in the city.
"If we lose it, it will be an extreme expense," said Schafer. "The City of Meadow Lake lost their water tower and are now spending quite a bit of money building a reservoir and pumps."
Councillor Greg Lightfoot said, "It's not just an iconic piece of history, it's actually an integral part of our water system that we need to maintain."
He added, "I can't imagine what it would cost to replace."
It would cost about $2.50 per gallon to recreate the storage the North Battleford water tower provides, said Schafer.
"With 750,000 gallons on that water tower, it gives you an idea of what you are looking at."
That's without the pumps, said Schafer.
Up to $2 million would be needed just for the storage tank.
According to a document prepared in 2013 as the terms of reference for an inspection of the water tower, a visual review of the exterior of the structure was last conducted in 2010. A metallurgical inspection and testing program was conducted and the reservoir was cleaned in 2002.
The document also stated, "Leaks have historically been observed and continue to be of concern. The latest leak was observed in late fall 2012 and was subsequently repaired."
The water tower was originally constructed in 1949 and has become an iconic part of the city's landscape. Every evening at dusk, the tower lights up, turning off again at 9 o'clock the next morning.
The lights were lit up for the first time in 1988 during the 75th anniversary of North Battleford. They were replaced in 2009 with LED lights after an aggressive fundraising campaign led by dedicated citizens of the Battlefords.
It's not the city's first water tower, however. The first water tower was built in 1909 and the old and new tower stood together for 11 years until April 19, 1960 when the old tower was torn down.
According to Tammy Donahue Buziak, archivist for the City of North Battleford, "There was a big problem when they were taking the old tower down – the crane broke and came crashing down."
The City, in its policies for the official community plan, has said its water distribution master plan must consider the heritage value of the existing water tower, as well as its efficacy for continued water storage
