Pressure problems to ease soon for local water customers - WKBN.com

Pressure problems to ease soon for Lisbon, Ohio water customers

LISBON, Ohio(WKBN) – Pressure problems may soon be a thing of the past for water customers in Lisbon. A new project is underway to help increase the flow every time you reach for the tap.

It’s a work in progress, but the steel puzzle that will soon become Lisbon’s new water tower is slowly taking shape.

“This tank, we could actually operate the entire system off of this one tank if we ever had to take our in-ground reservoir offline for maintenance,” said Christopher Peterson, senior operator.

Construction on the 150-foot structure won’t be done for roughly another year, but officials say the trickle-down will be huge, pumping up the pressure in the aging system, specifically on the north end of town.

“We are actually the third-oldest water system in Ohio. I believe it was 1843 that the system was created,” Peterson said.

Bill Hoover with the Lisbon Water Department said there are lines that are 50 years old or older. Because of that, water crews will actually have to temper the flow.

“It will increase it to 125 psi, and we’re going to have a valve to throttle it down so we don’t break a bunch of pipes,” Hoover said.

Lisbon water has also focused on plugging up their leaky system, managing to cut the drip down from 300,000 gallons per day — roughly the capacity of the white storage tank that will soon be demolished –down to 100,000 gallons per day.

“That water in the tanks is already processed, so every gallon we lose, we’re losing money,” Hoover said.

The entire project, including new lines from the treatment plant to the new tower and a pumping station, will cost about $4.2 million.

Water rates have been increasing by about 3% each year to help pay for improvements, but the department is also seeking grants to pay for the project.

“We have a lot of people on fixed incomes, and we didn’t want to do a 50% rate increase all at once. We’ve tried to do it gradually so it’s easier to adjust and adapt,” Hoover said.