Former TISD graduate donates funds for the project

By Art Lawler Staff Writer

TRINIDAD — Ever noticed that drab, gray water tower that rises above this small town in the western part of Henderson County?

You may want to take another look. The 25-year-old water tower is anything but drab now. It has a gleaming white exterior with a 16-foot Trojan head guarding this town from the east, and another 16-foot head guarding it from the west.

While the new face lift is a source of pride for a community with a long-winning Trojan football tradition, the new paint job and art work are just the tip of the iceberg of what’s been happening.

Before getting into that, though, here’s more about Trinidad’s shiny new conversation piece.

As mentioned, those Trojan heads on the tower are 16 feet from bottom to top. You don’t want to mess with anybody whose head is that big, least of all a Trojan.

The Trinidad letters above the Trojan head are 5-feet tall. To get a Trojan head that big, it costs money.

But, did taxpayers have to foot that bill?

Not at all, said Tibbets. The bill for the Trojan head was financed entirely by a 1967 graduate of Trinidad High School, Gwen Wiggins Walker, who now lives in Tyler.

The tower wasn’t just painted for community pride, though. In fact, it was painted on the inside as well. You’ll have to take City Engineer Mike Tibbets word for that.

Or you can look at some video the community took to show inspectors who come by once a year, and don’t want to climb up for a look-see.

What brought all of this about? Well, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality required the city to bring the tank up to current standards — standards that weren’t in existence when the tower was built 25 years ago.

Take access hatches, for instance. When the tower was built, the 24-square-inch hatch was good enough for access.

Not anymore. Now it has to be 30 square-inches instead of 24 square-inches.

You’re probably wondering, “What’s the big deal?”

“If somebody got injured (in the tower), putting them on a backboard would not be possible,” Tibbets said. “You can’t get them out of a 24, but you can a 30.”

Why the inside paint job ?

“The effects of chlorine in the water, or water vapor, causes the paint on the inside to deteriorate,” Tibbets said.

S­­o how do you paint the inside of a water tower? The fumes could be deadly. And, how do you get up there without a ladder”

“There’s a ladder,” he said.

Really, where?

“It’s on the inside. The bowl at the top has a tube going through the center of it.

So?

“You can climb from the ground, inside the tube, which is about 30 square-inches in diameter. At the top, the part holding up the bowl, is about six feet in diameter.

When you get all the way to the top, you can crawl out the top and open another hatch, which then takes you down into the bowl.”

So, how did it go?

“The ladder was rusted, and had to be replaced,” Tibbets said.

Surely there was more?

“Additionally, the aviation light on top of the tank had to be replaced.”

Let’s see, a new paint job for the inside, a new one for the outside, and a light bulb; that’s about it?

“No, not nearly,” said Tibbets. “There’s the engineering work, the art work, the mascot, the new hatches, a new raw water treatment plant. The people of Trinidad got quite a bargain.”

So, how hard can it be to paint the inside and outside of a water tower?

“One thing, they get a razor blade scraper and take paint samples and then check for leaks.”

He said when you paint a living room, you might miss a spot, but nobody will notice for a long time. You can’t do that with a water tower paint job.

Tibbets said he had to go down, and see if the paint is thick enough to meet government requirements.

To do this, they attach a connection to a place on the steel. A sponge is rubbed over the painted parts. If there’s a pinhole, what can’t be seen with the naked eye can be discovered when a buzzer rings, even if it’s no larger than a human hair.

If that happens, it’s bad, huh?

“The gas molecules and water vapor can get through. It becomes a tunnel for a molecule to go through, Tibbets said, sounding like an engineer trying to do baby talk with civilians.

Paint rollers, attached to tubes that supplied the paint, were used to cover the outside. Spray painting would have been faster, but the paint might have landed on cars and nearby houses. Therefore, the more conservative method was used.

He said he was pleasantly surprised when he got inside the bowl, and discovered relatively little rusting.

Once the inside was sandblasted and painted, they had to put chlorine back inside. They let it set for a day or two.

When a bacteria test comes back negatively, they can start filling up the bowl and using it again. The time needed for this to take place varies depending on weather conditions.

They look for hot, dry days, to speed up the process. High humidity can slow things down.

“They can’t put water back in it before paint dries,” Tibbets said. “You have to have the inside and the outside of the bowl finished before you put water in it, because sometimes the difference in water temperature will cause condensation, and you can’t paint over wet steel.”

Even so, emptying a water tower in most communities is no big deal, Tibbets said they simply switch to one of the other towers, as in Athens, for instance.

But in Trinidad, there’s only one tower. It means the water coming from the treatment plant has to run 100-percent of the time.

For now, the water tower is empty, but Tibbets said it s should be back in operation by the end of the week.

Just remember that the Trojans are watching you.