What’s that? This hulking Saginaw structure was built as a safety net for residents
SAGINAW, MI — Nearby residents and motorist passersby in recent months may have noticed a new, towering window-less structure taking up real estate and some of the skyline in a southeast Saginaw neighborhood.
Still in an active construction zone, the concrete facility is a 160-foot, 3-million-gallon water storage tank that is on schedule to begin operating as early as late December, officials said.
Plans for the $18.1 million water storage facility were first announced publicly by Saginaw City Hall officials in summer 2022. Now those plans are nearly a finished structure.
“The project is on time and has been moving along, with only a few small changes so far,” said Mike Grenier, director of Saginaw’s water and wastewater treatment operations.
The facility’s purpose: To provide insurance if a power outage impacts the city’s ability to deliver water to its 170,000 customers, located across several mid-Michigan municipalities.
Outages can result in a loss of pressure generated by water treatment plants — which, in turn, can impact the treatment process — leading staff to advise customers to boil water before consuming it. If the power outage lasts long enough, an entire customer base could be impacted.
A water storage tank would provide a resource allowing staff to maintain water pressure levels while waiting either for the power to return or for the installation of a backup generator that meets the system’s needs.
Saginaw officials secured a $15 million state reimbursement grant to pay for much of the cost, with the city’s water system fund making up the $3.1 million difference. The project originally was estimated to cost $15 million.
Saginaw officials abandoned early plans for the tank’s exterior to match the aesthetic of the Saginaw Water Treatment Plant, a Gothic-inspired structure considered one of the community’s architectural gems since it was built in 1929.
“Between the additional costs and some questions about the longevity of the decorative features, they were dropped from the project,” Grenier said. “With the tower (and treatment plant) being at separate sites, matching the architecture of the plant became less of an issue.”
The water storage tank is located on Webber, near the South Washington Avenue intersection, about a half-mile south from the water treatment plant.
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