SHAWSA Water Tower to mark the City's skyline

The new water tower contracted by the South Haven Area Water and Sewer Authority (SHAWSA) will be raised up soon for the next phase of construction. SHAWSA Chair and Casco Township Supervisor Allan Overhiser reports, "Prep work is scheduled for Thursday; if all goes well, the tower will be raised on Friday [October 24]."

The water tower was engineered by Landmark, a firm based in Fort Worth, TX. A Composite Elevated Tank (CET), this form of water tower was developed by Landmark in 1980 and designed to store large quantities of water at a low cost. The CET uses architectural concrete to form a strong and attractive column that supports the steel water tank.

The tank also lends itself to promoting community identity, and the elevated water storage infrastructure has been emblazoned with a colorful logo of the City of South Haven. The painting was completed by Cedar Springs-based MC Sandblasting and Painting Inc.

MC Sandblasting and Painting President Ryan Bekins described the process. "Raw steel is welded together. The steel is then sandblasted. We use a 'tyvec' kind of paper to trace out the pattern and paint from that." Bekins' Cedar Springs-based company has completed numerous CET paint projects for Landmark, one of just three companies in the USA that builds this type of elevated water tank.

The SHAWSA tank won't be finished until 2026. "Landmark will come back in the Spring; when the bowl is in the air, they'll weld on the roof, put on the floor, and sandblast it all to hold water cleanly," Bekins explained. MC Sandblasting and Painting will complete the job in partnership with Landmark at that time.

The new SHAWSA water tower, showing the tank nearly ready to be raised. Photo credit: Allan Overhiser