By Andy Sevilla

A 2014 inspection of Buda water storage tanks revealed two of those facilities were in poor condition and in need of repair. Now, city officials are readying to make the needed fixes.

“Any time we have a deficiency we have to get it fixed,” Buda Mayor Todd Ruge said. “We owe it to the taxpayers to get it fixed. And we want to ensure that we have clean water that remains up to par.”

During the present fiscal year, council members approved $470,000 out of the water fund for repairs to the Garlic Creek Booster Station and Ground Storage Tank, as well as for the Bonita Vista (Well 3) Standpipe, Mike Beggs, Buda public works director told council at a meeting this month.

Dunham Engineering of College Station was tapped in 2013 to provide a budget number, discussions and to determine the scope of work necessary and a schedule to preparing the water tanks.

“It’s something that communities do periodically,” Ruge said. “We have to make sure [the tanks are] up to standard, and if they’re not, we work to get them there.”

Though tank repairs are needed, Ruge said the city’s water quality has not been compromised and rated high during testing. “We want to make sure all our system is up to its highest standards.”

At a Jan. 6 meeting, Buda council members unanimously approved a $60,000 contract with Dunham Engineering to provide water tank project management and construction oversight. That approval clears the way for Dunham Engineering to solicit bids

According to an April 2014 assessment of Buda storage water tanks, the Garlic Creek Ground Storage Tank’s (GST) interior coating is in poor condition. The coating has completely failed and is pitting below the tank’s high water level, the assessment found.

The recommended fixes for the interior is to replace the coating with epoxy coating by the 2016 spring.

The condition of that tank’s structure was found to be “fair.”

The Bonita Vista (Well 3) Standpipe also was found to need repair. Like the Garlic Creek GST, its structural condition was found to be “fair”, and the interior coating was in “poor” condition, per the 2014 assessment.

The Bonita Vista Standpipe has a hole in the vent and cracked weld seam. Its recommended repairs include replacing the vent as soon as possible, and rehabbing the tank by this spring. 

City staff suggested in a memo to council that repairs could likely begin in early 2016.

Of the city’s nine water storage tanks, only the Garlic Creek GST and Bonita Vista Standpipe had any deterioration considered in poor condition. That designation signifies that the intended function is still performed, but reliability is significantly reduced.

The two facilities also were the only to have their structural condition considered fair, which means the intended function is performed, but there is a small reduction in reliability.

The Garlic Creek GST has a total capacity of 250,000 gallons, and the Bonita Vista Standpipe has a total capacity of 500,000 gallons.