Show All Answers

1. What areas of Fayetteville are served by the Canterbury tank?

This 500,000 gallon tank and the 250,000 gallon tank on Skyline Drive serve buildings and fire hydrants in the higher elevations of central and eastern Fayetteville.

2. Why is the tank as tall as it is?

The tank is 143 feet tall to its overflow point, which is approximately 2 feet below the physical top of the structure. This elevation is required in order to match the elevation of the existing tank on Skyline Drive which is connected to the same water system.

The elevations were chosen to provide minimum acceptable pressure to the residents served by this system. Water in our homes is generally pushed out of the tap by gravity. We pump the water up into the tanks, having the pumps turn on and off as required to maintain adequate volume in the tank to meet normal and emergency demands. The water in the tank then essentially pushes the water in the pipes to any opening in the system, such as a hose, faucet, or fire hydrant.

3. What can you tell me about the construction? Who is building the tank and how long will it take?

Chicago Bridge and Iron (CB&I) is the company who won the bid to construct the tank, for a total of $1,551,000. They are one of the most experienced water tank construction companies in the world and have been building steel structures since 1889. Coincidentally, that was the year Fayetteville hired an engineer to design its water distribution system.

The tank was placed in service May 2011. CB&I subcontracted to Sweetser Construction, a local firm, for site work, foundation work, and incidental piping and asphalt work in and around the worksite. Chicago Bridge and Iron

4. Why was this shape chosen?

The new tank is a single pedestal spheroidal shaped tank, commonly compared to a golf ball on a tee style, similar to our 75,000 gallon tank on the Fayetteville Township tank. There are
4 basic styles of elevated tanks: single pedestal spheroidal, multi-column, single pedestal composite, and single pedestal hydropillar.

For the Canterbury tank, the multi-column style was ruled out as much more difficult to maintain. The remaining 3 were bid competitively against each other in order to reduce the cost of the tank.

5. What difference will the tank make in my life?

This tank will provide several benefits for our customers. If you live in the area it serves, it will significantly increase the fire protection throughout that area. This will probably cause the city’s ISO fire insurance rating to be reduced, very likely resulting in lower insurance costs for all of
Fayetteville’s citizens.

If you live on one of the highest elevations in the area served by the tank, you probably have had flow and/or pressure during peak demand periods (typically summer time). This tank will stabilize both the flow and the pressure in this system, so that your flow and/or pressure will be the same year round. The flow and pressure in your home is influenced by many things such as the age, size, and configuration of your plumbing, your elevation, and the size and configuration of the city’s piping system in your neighborhood, but this tank will stabilize the flow and pressure to the highest level you see any time during the year.

If you live in the Canterbury Street area very close to the tank, your flow and/or pressure will likely increase a little above anything you have seen at your home.

6. How and why did you choose the color?

The colors were chosen for 2 specific reasons. Lighter tank colors absorb less heat. Warmer water in a tank can become stale, and the chlorine residual can dissipate, causing potential taste and quality issues. A lighter color and the tank’s built-in circulation system prevent stagnation.

This color combination also best blends with the sky. The specific color was chosen October 2009 at a meeting in which the area residents voted on the color.

7. How long is water usually in the tank before it is consumed?

The tank is specifically designed to ensure the water in the tank flows through and does not become stagnant. Water will generally stay in the tank less than 1 day, but this fluctuates with usage.

8. I live in the area served by this tank. Who do I contact with questions about water quality?

For questions about the Fayetteville system, please contact the Water and Sewer Operations Division at 479-575-8330.

The water in Canterbury is purchased from Beaver Water District (BWD). For questions about water quality, color, taste, etc., please contact BWD at 479-756-3651 or visit their website.
Beaver Water District

9. How is this tank stabilized?

The tank is built on a deep reinforced concrete foundation, set to bedrock. It is designed to withstand the weight of the structure, the water it contains, and any snow and wind loads (sustained winds exceeding 150 mph) for well over 100 years. This is substantiated by the city’s Markham and Mount Sequoyah elevated water tanks, both built in 1959, which have provided excellent service with no problems.

10. How frequently is the tank inspected for structural stability?

The tank is inspected at least weekly and is constantly monitored via a radio control system. The radio system communicates with all of our water system components and lets us control
the water level, when and how many pumps are running, etc. The controlling computer, which has a fully redundant backup at a totally different location in case of emergency, automatically operates the system based on the parameters we have entered.

For special circumstances, we have the ability to manually override from several different locations, including on-site at the pump station from which the tank is filled. The system notifies our operators, who are on call 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, if operations move outside normal boundaries. That allows us to respond to problems very quickly. Most issues can be resolved without our operators ever having to visit the site, saving significant overtime for our employees. All components of the water system, including all pumps and radio systems, have backup power in the event of a power outage.

11. Can I drive up to see the tank?

The tank is not accessible to the public for safety reasons. The gated service road to the tank is owned by the City of Fayetteville and will be locked when the tank is not being serviced by a city employee.