Joe Imel/Daily NewsCaldwell Tanks employees Darrell Blankenship (from left), of Toledo, Ohio, William Cummings of Somerset and Mike Troxel of Albany paint the roof of the Reservoir Hill water tower today. The adjacent water tank has been cleaned in order to maintain water quality standards.

Maintenance on Bowling Green Municipal Utilities’ water tank and tower on Reservoir Hill, also known as Hospital Hill, is near completion.

The work included emptying the 5 million gallon tank on the ground, but that has only minimally affected water distribution efforts, according to BGMU spokesman Miles McDaniel.

&#8220We had to revalve some distribution points, and we greatly appreciate the public’s patience when we had to adjust the pressure,” said Mike Gardner, systems manager for the water and sewer division.

A side effect of the change has been some stagnant water in the system in the area of Kentucky Street and 13th Avenue, prompting the fire hydrant there to be flushed twice a day.

&#8220What happens is when the pressure is low and the temperatures are high, the chlorine residuals drop off, so we have to flush water through the system,” Gardner said. &#8220It is on a timer there and flushes twice a day for about 10 minutes.”

Gardner estimated that about 100 gallons a minute were being expelled.

When the public is being urged to conserve water – fined if they don’t comply – seeing water hit the ground may be troublesome, but McDaniel wants them to know it is strictly to maintain water quality. And he invited residents, who might want to capture some of that water for their flowers, to come collect it as it’s being flushed.

The public shouldn’t worry about water storage capacity of the system needed to help maintain pressure and for use in emergencies, because BGMU has four other storage facilities totaling more than 5 million gallons, as well as 4 million gallons in a large clear well at the water treatment plant.

&#8220We waited until we had the WKU (water) tower on line before we did this,” Gardner said.

It had been 20 years since the ground tank was emptied and inspected.

&#8220We were overdue,” he said.

The inside and outside of the ground tank was inspected, sandblasted, primed and repainted. The top of the tower also is being painted in the work, with contracts totaling $525,000.

&#8220We emptied the tank in early May and they have completed all of the repairs on the interior and are now on the outside,” Gardner said. &#8220We hope to be done in 10 days to two weeks.”