Since 2005, when Raleigh took ownership of Wake Forest’s water and sewer system, Raleigh Water — the newish name for the water and sewer department — has upgraded, built new and improved the system.
That includes building new water towers (or tanks) on high ground and high stilts to provide steady pressure.
Read below to learn about those water tanks and to learn how Raleigh is upgrading its water treatment plant on Falls of Neuse Road.
There is the 300,000-gallon water tower on South White Street which was just painted and decorated with the logo of Downtown Wake Forest. It serves the area around it. It replaced the smaller and lower tank at the corner of East Juniper Avenue and North Taylor Street. (A much earlier water tank stood behind the first water treatment plant on Elm Avenue that has been much renovated and is now a dental office. That tank had a siren on top that was activated when there was a fire. It was also draped with colored lights at Christmas.)
There are the two million-gallon water towers built in recent years — the one behind the Wake Forest Public Works complex on Friendship Chapel Road built about 2005 and the newer one just off Keith Store Road near Old Falls of the Neuse Road.
The water tower (or tank) on Friendship Chapel Road serves the south-central part of Wake Forest, according to Edward Buchan with Raleigh Water. It was built shortly after Raleigh took ownership of Wake Forest’s water and sewer. Despite its size, it is not noticeable from most areas.
The water tank off Keith Store Road serves the western area of Wake Forest (e.g. Wakefield neighborhood), Buchan said. It was built about six years ago and is a prominent feature on the horizon when you drive east on the Bypass.
The fourth million-gallon water tank will be built on a lot on College Street to help with the water pressure in areas nearby and will also be about 110 feet high. The plans for it are under review by Senior Planner Patrick Reidy. He wrote this about the lot the Town of Wake Forest owns. “Allison (Assistant Town Manager Allison Snyder) did a title search on the property when Raleigh approached the Town about this site and her best guess is that it was a property inherited by heirs and we purchased it since it was adjacent to Holding Park.” It will be flanked by two houses when complete.
And then the underground tank. Buchan said, “Ok, so yes, to my knowledge, the tank at the GG Hill water plant is still very much in use and can hold ~525,000 gallons. Like most ground storage tanks, it is used mainly for pure storage capacity rather than creating pressure via elevation. I believe it’s used to provide water to much of western Wake Forest and is fed from a 12” water line which generally parallels Wait Ave.”
Buchan then went on to answer questions about the primary water treatment plant for Raleigh and all of eastern Wake County, because Raleigh services not just itself and Wake Forest but also Rolesville, Garner, Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon. If you look as you travel on local roads you can see the lines of yellow fire hydrants on the roadside.
He said, “In regards to the Falls of Neuse Water Plant (i.e. EM Johnson water plant), we are in the process of expanding it to 120 million gallons per (MGD) day (up from 86 MGD), but it will likely be several more years before the full expansion is complete. It’s a relatively old plant (built in 1967), so there are a lot of other improvements and filter upgrades we are also doing in addition to adding treatment capacity.
“As for a “sister plant”, there are no plans to build one nearby in the foreseeable future. Partly because we are essentially land-locked by the New Life Camp, Falls of Neuse Rd, Raven Ridge Rd and Sheffield Estates – so we don’t really have enough room to build another facility on this site.
“That said, we do have a 2nd plant in operation now (since 2010) in Garner, NC which produces about 20% of drinking water at this time. And we theoretically have the ability to expand this facility to 40 MGD, although we would have to add another water resource other than the existing Swift Creek sources (Lake Benson & Lake Wheeler).
“I should also mention that our water demands have remained very flat over the past 16 or so years, with our average demand in 2007 being ~ 52 MGD day to around 55 MGD – despite tremendous population growth within our service area. Which means we certainly have plenty of treatment capacity for the future, but we are also evaluating new resources which may be needed by 2040 or 2045.”
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