Construction begins on Ephrata’s first water tower

EPHRATA – After a long-anticipated wait, Ephrata moved its new water tower project forward Saturday by pouring 15,120 yards of concrete and laying around 67,800 feet of rebar to make the tower’s foundation.  

T Bailey, the contracted company, started pouring at 2:50 a.m. and went until around 10 p.m. The process used two concrete pump trucks, 25 concrete trucks and three concrete plants, according to Ephrata City Administrator Ray Towry.  

“Yeah, it's pretty good size. I mean, we've got other projects going on, but this one's probably the most costly, looking at spending about $15 million on this little project,” Ephrata Mayor Bruce Reim said. “It started about three or four years ago with the inception, and we've been working for a long time, trying to put this thing together.”  

Towry said the $15 million spent for the project is going to the tower, an upgrade for the well and well house, a new pump and valves – which will ensure good water pressure for homes on the city’s east side hill. The city oversized the water pump to account for growth in the next 50 years. The tower will be around 150 feet tall. 

“We had to put valves in where the hill connects down to the basin, so it would keep that pressure up on the hill and not just give immense pressure down in the basin,” Towry said. “Then we also put in a pump so that if there's an issue with a well up in that section, in that newly created pressure zone, we would actually be able to pump water up into that pressure zone from down in the basin so that they still continue to have water service in the case of emergency.” 

Towry said the project will be finished by the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026. He explained there is some debate around the electrical aspects of the tower because there are still parts and equipment supply issues from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Well, we haven't had an addition to our infrastructure of this magnitude in 34 years,” Towry said. “We've added pipes, but we haven't had to add a tower or any storage for 30 to 40 years, so it's just a sign of our growth. Again, we're getting a lot of residential growth in that northeast neighborhood, just trying to keep up with that demand.” 

Towry explained that the neighborhoods in the northeast end of town have told him that if someone’s neighbor is watering their lawn and doing dishes, the person is often not able to take a shower because there is a lack of water pressure.  

“We're pretty excited to enjoy the extra pressure that we're going to get for the residents,” Reim said. “As far as the project goes, like any project, it's going to take time. There's going to be bumps along the way, but we're confident that the people that we have in charge of this will be able to help out with that and do a good job of putting it together. There's a lot of the nuts and bolts involved with this.” 

Towry said the city is waiting for the concrete to cure – which will take around one to two weeks. Then the contractor will begin assembling the rings and building the tower up.  

“Well, stay tuned,” Reim said. “We've got all sorts of things in the hopper, so just keep an eye on us. We're always growing. We appreciate all the support that we're getting, and special thanks to the taxpayers of Ephrata for helping to make this happen.” 

The new water tower will be around 150 feet tall and Saturday the crew poured concrete for 19.5 hours to form the base for the new tower.