Reservoir to get cover
Reservoir to get cover
AU REVOIR RESERVOIR. Two trackhoes dismantle the Myrtle Street Reservoir, which will be rebuilt but smaller and will be covered to protect against terrorists and to keep water cleaner. The photo was taken from the older, western-most tower, which holds 500,000 gallons of water. Seattle Public Utilities employee Jeff Simmons is in the foreground. <b> Photo by Patrick Robinson.</b><br><br>This photo and others shot from the tower are avaiable in the Photo Gallery
Tue, 07/25/2006
Work crews are reforming the 59-year-old underground Myrtle Street Reservoir to place a concrete cover over the drinking water to discourage terrorists and keep the water cleaner.
The new lid will be covered with soil and grass and the area around the reservoir, which has long been fenced off, will be opened for public use.
Work is expected to continue until next year on the $6.3 million project.
A similar lid also is planned for the much bigger West Seattle Reservoir in Westcrest Park.
Surprisingly, both reservoirs will end up considerably smaller than they are today because Seattle has too much capacity in its water system, said Bill Wells, project manager of Seattle Public Utilities' Resource Development Division.
"We don't need all the storage we have," he said.
The old Myrtle Street reservoir, shaped like a rectangle with rounded corners, held 7 million gallons. The new box-shape reservoir will have a capacity of 5 million gallons.
The lid will be supported by an array of concrete pillars, much like a parking garage, will be set at a slight slope and equipped with drainage pipes to clear storm water.
Work on the reservoir won't affect the two water towers that stand just south of the reservoir along Myrtle Street, west of 35th Avenue Southwest.
Seattle Parks and Recreation budgeted nearly $860,000 from the Pro Parks levy, approved by voters in 2000, to plant landscaping around the new Myrtle Street reservoir. Planning starts next year.
The existing West Seattle reservoir in Westcrest Park can hold 68 million gallons. After being rebuilt and lidded, the reservoir will have a 30-million-gallon capacity, Wells said. The work will take about two years and it's scheduled to start in 2008
Rebuilding the West Seattle reservoir will cost an estimated $7.5 million.
Seattle Public Utilities hopes to finish rebuilding and lidding all of the city's reservoirs by 2013. These projects will increase a typical Seattle homeowner's water bill by 24 cents a month in 2008. The increase is expected to grow to $1.28 a month by 2015.
Tim St. Clair can be contacted at 932-0300 or tstclair@robinsonnews.com
