Killeen planning to build a new water tank for $1.2 million

The City of Killeen is planning to build a new ground storage tank at the pump station on the southwest side of town.

A tank that will look like a giant pipe sticking out of the ground right off Stan Schlueter Loop.

”The diameter is only 15 feet, but the height is 80 feet, and the reason being so tall is again, we want to keep pressure on the system,” Assistant City Engineer, Steve Kana said.

The new storage tank will help keep the water pressure in the area from dropping below safe levels so it doesn’t need to be as big as a traditional water tower.

”So, it’s not like our normal elevated storage tanks,” Kana said. “This is only 100,000 gallons where, like the one we built on Chaparral, that’s 1.5 million.”

The city is planning to spend $1.2 million on the project.

Much less than some council members expected.

”Usually I'm looking at $5 million when we build something like this,” Killeen city councilman Jose Segarra said.

It is still a large number, but City Council members said it won’t hurt anyone’s pocketbook because it was already budgeted for.

”It doesn’t have that much impact, if at any, to our citizens,” Segarra said. “So, it’s just the things that we‘re doing to help improve and continue that improvement, that quality of life for our citizens.”

The original plan was to build the new tank in 2030 but TCEQ rules moved that time up.

”Regulation is again, that you need to be able to pull out of a ground storage tank for a booster pump station,” Kana said.

This new storage tank will also help keep the water pressure up for new homes and businesses being built on that side of town.