Martin Ave Water Tower’s New Look

As you may have noticed, the water tower on the south end of Martin Rd has had some recent activity.

LC United Painting Co. out of Sterling Heights, MI was awarded the bid to complete upgrades to the tower. These upgrades include installation of cathodic protection to help reduce corrosion, a safety railing around the top of the tower, and some other smaller safety features designed to protect employees as well as the water supply.

Also included in the contract is repainting of the tower inside and out featuring the Utility’s new logo as seen above.

The tower holds 500,000 gallons of water and provides water pressure for the southern and eastern parts of the city. It was originally constructed in 1993 and had one prior paint job in 2003.

The new logo and Utility name is aimed at helping to identify the utility as its own entity while still showing its important relationship to the City of Fond du Lac.

The logo ties in the commonly used lighthouse theme, along with the original historic “Waterworks” name that dates to the late 1800’s. The logo will first appear on the water tower and will eventually find its way on utility trucks, letterheads, and business cards.

The logo was created by Shelby Schnell, a sibling of a Utility staff member, Chad Churchill. Chad has been an employee of the Utility since 2018 and with the city since 2011.

The original water plant was constructed in 1885 by a group of businessmen from Lockport, New York. These businessmen were mainly interested in the manufacturing and sale of steam pumping engines which were used to pump water. Birdsill Holly invented and manufactured an integrated pumping system to supply water for both public supply and firefighting. The Holly pumps provided constant pressure in the absence of water towers. Evidence of this is still seen as the Holly System signage remains on the north face of the North Macy Street building.

In 1899 the control of the Fond du Lac Water Company passed into the hands of three local men and on October 3, 1911, the people of Fond du Lac voted to buy the plant from the Fond du Lac Water Company for a purchase price of $345,091.33. The purchase price was established by the old Wisconsin Railroad Commission. In 1928 the main pumping station was enlarged to house a new diesel engine to run the pumps.

The Waterworks building was designated a historical site on December 17, 2003. Since that time, windows and doors have been replaced and a new roof installed. In 2012 a new two-million-gallon reservoir, booster station and water treatment plant to reduce radium levels has been built on the site. Parking lot improvements and landscape plantings complete the restoration work resulting in an attractive upgrade to the Fond du Lac downtown area.

Today the building is used as the primary Business Office for the Waterworks Division and houses other staff members such as Certified Operators, Meter Service Technicians, and Engineering staff.

Today, the staff of 18 operates and maintains 17 deep wells in and around the City with the capacity to pump up to nearly 14 million gallons of water a day, eight reservoirs totaling 9.75 million gallons of water storage, six booster stations, 226 miles of water main pipe, over 1,800 fire hydrants, and over 15,000 service connections. On an annual basis 1.6 billion gallons of water are pumped, treated, and distributed to the city.

Today, the Waterworks net capital assets are valued around $80,000,000.