Lake County officials celebrated the new Gages Lake water tower, a $6.1 million project that can store 1.25 million gallons of drinking water for one of the largest water systems run by the county.
The 150-foot tower, which feeds into the Wildwood Water System, has been in operation since late December, according to Marc Bourgault, assistant director of the county’s Department of Public Works. Wildwood is the county’s second-largest water system, and one of its older ones, with pipes put in the ground around 50 years ago, he said.
Gages Lake Water Tower increases the “resiliency” of the water system, Bourgault said, and helps maintain water pressure during peak usage and during power outages or other emergencies.
The system gets its water from the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency, and in the event of a water interruption or other unforeseen situations, “water towers and reservoirs provide valuable and needed service and storage for residents,” he said.
“This was cost-effective and beneficial for the overall water system,” Bourgault said. “We have never run out of water, so to speak, and we don’t want to.”
The Wildwood Water System has several reservoirs feeding it, including the Almond Road reservoir and the John Mogg water tower. It serves about 14,000 residents, businesses and schools in Grayslake, Gurnee, Third Lake and unincorporated areas of the county, as well as the main campus of the College of Lake County.
According to a county news release, before the new tower was built, the system had about one day of backup water storage. The new tower doubles that capacity, giving crews more time to respond to system issues before customers are impacted.
The project was fully funded through the Lake County Public Works Capital Improvement Program, which is supported by water and sewer user fees. The CIP is meant to preserve and modernize critical water and wastewater infrastructure, the release said.
Other ongoing initiatives include replacing aging pipes more than 70-years-old, expanding water storage capacity and connecting more communities to Lake Michigan water.
The water tower is an idea decades in the making, Bourgault said, with the property donated to the county in 1990 and related infrastructure installed years ago in anticipation of such a project.
Its location is ideal, he said, sitting in the middle of the water system between reservoirs.
In a statement, Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart called it a “long-term commitment” by the county in “critical infrastructure that protects public health, safety and quality of life.”
“Reliable access to clean drinking water requires proactive planning and continued investment to ensure our communities are prepared now and into the future,” she said.
Jennifer Clark, chair of the county’s Public Works and Transportation Committee, called water infrastructure projects “essential” to keeping the communities running. The tower, standing at about 150 feet, will help maintain consistent water pressure, reduce strain on equipment and improve reliability during peak usage times, she said.
County Board member Carissa Casbon, District 7, said it’s the first county-owned water tower to have a community-selected name. John Wasik, District 6, praised the “years of planning, coordination and hard work behind the scenes” to bring about the water tower.
