Montville ― Water Pollution Control Authority Superintendent Derek Albertson, speaking at Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new water tower to be built at 50 Cook Drive, said he expects it will last 40 years.

Construction will begin “very, very soon,” he said, and is expected to finish before the end of this year.

The new $2.3 million tower will provide vital water pressure for the delivery of clean drinking water to 500 WPCA customers and fire hydrants throughout the town, and also be easier to maintain than the current one that has been there since 1999, he said. It will be built next to the current one, and will not interrupt water service.

In November 2020, after a routine inspection showed that the 25-year-old tower’s steel-welded coating was failing, the WPCA applied for a grant from the state Department of Public Health’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to pay for a project to replace it. The grant will fund half of the project, while a 20-year-loan with a 2% interest rate will pay for the other half, he said.

On Wednesday morning, he and other local and state officials donned hard hats and green vests and grabbed shovels in the shadow of the current 98-foot-tower for the ceremony.

“I just want to take a moment to enjoy this,” Albertson said. “This is a milestone for the town of Montville.”

He said he was proud that federal, state and local agencies had cooperated to bring residents an essential service ― clean drinking water.

The WPCA had originally discussed multiple options to fix the failing coating, including repainting the tower, Albertson said. But painting would cost a lot, and it would have to be repainted again in 20 to 30 years. So instead, the WPCA decided to completely replace the tower with a same-sized one that uses technology that doesn’t need repainting.

The new tank will be built of glass-plated steel plates manufactured by Dekalb, Ill.-based CST Industries. They will be installed by Aquastore, a local distributor for the panels, Albertson said. The glass will coat the inside and outside of the approximately 530,000-gallon tank. Other construction work will be done by Preston-based Suchoki and Son.

In addition to replacing the tank itself, the tower will feature new emergency power and electrical controls.

Albertson first recognized former Mayor Ron McDaniel, who helped start the project in 2022 and had hired Albertson to be WPCA superintendent in October 2018. Mayor Leonard Bunnell has continued the project, he said, “running in lock step with what the former mayor started.”

Bunnell said the groundbreaking signified more than just the start of the structure itself, adding the water tank “represents a shared vision for everyone in town’s access to clean water.”

He pointed to the tower and development on Route 32 as signs of positive growth for the town he believes will continue.

“Let us look forward to the day when the water from this tank flows freely,” Bunnell added.

d.drainville@theday.com