Rediscovering the reservoir
posted
Westward expansion
It was the mid-1920s – when Regent Street led to the very edge of Madison, when farm fields stretched across places that would later become Hill Farms, Sunset Village, Westmorland, and Midvale Heights. A population boom was coming, and it would take a feat of engineering to make sure Madison was ready.
In 1926, the city paved the way for massive expansion by building an enormous, 6 million gallon water reservoir and booster pump station on Madison's western frontier – what's now Glenway St. north of Mineral Point Road. Made of concrete supported by columns and buttresses, the reservoir was a major construction project, involving crews from Madison Water Utility as well as local cement contracting company O'Dea and Shaffer (see the construction video below). It would provide water to much of the near west side for the next 87 years.
"The Rez"
For many Madisonians who grew up on the west side, the reservoir isn't about water or infrastructure. It's about childhood memories. Reservoir Park – or "the Rez" – was a place for sliding and sledding, for exploring a grassy hill with little thought about what lay buried below. But for Madison Water Utility, the reservoir is a symbol of lasting infrastructure.
"This pumping facility has been operating since 1926, making it Madison Water Utility's oldest operating facility," says MWU engineer Adam Wiederhoeft, who is overseeing reconstruction of the nearby booster pump station. "The reconstruction...is one of (our) high-priority infrastructure replacement projects."
A look inside
As part of the reconstruction project, Madison Water Utility employees drained the 6 million gallon reservoir for the first time since the 1980s and climbed inside for an inspection. What they found was part infrastructure, part history, and part surreal work of art. They also found that the reservoir has held up remarkably well over its nearly nine decades of service, and after cleaning and renovations, it should continue to supply water to the near west side for decades to come.
"The deteriorated access/vent structures located on top of the buried reservoir will be replaced," says Wiederhoeft. "The rainwater drainage on the top ... will be improved to eliminate the occurrence of standing water."
MWU will completely replace the nearby booster pump, renovate its housing facility and rebuild the steps leading to the top of the reservoir. The Utility is also working with city officials in hopes of launching a playground improvement project and will contribute funds in support of those improvements, ensuring "the Rez" will continue to be a place for future childhood memories.
Subscribe to Water Utility News & Alerts Updates
Archive
Category
Uncategorized
- A funny song about a serious thing
- Reminder: The Great Showerhead Giveaway happening this Saturday!
- Flushing program puts Madison "on the forefront"
- Paying for Progress
- The long road to smart meters
- Going in the hole: Madison Water Utility crews take on main break season
- Madison getting its first new water well in a decade
- Rebuilding pride in Paterson
- Lake View Reservoir reconstruction sparks neighborhood interest
- Madison Water Utility builds new water mains -- inside the old ones
- Well hunters: Finding Madison's long-hidden private wells
History
- What’s under Monroe Street?
- Finding Madison's foxes
- Bidding farewell to Madison’s “legacy” main
- Madison Water Utility turns 135!
- World War II-era journals discovered at construction site
- EPA seeks details of Madison’s Lead Service Replacement Program
- Rediscovering the reservoir
- Unearthing Madison's history
Our People
- Worst-case: What happens when a water main breaks under an airport taxiway?
- Imagine a Day Without Water
- High school students get hands-on training at MWU
- Worst winter ever? Lessons learned from the "polar vortex" winter of 2013-14
- Imagine a day without water
- MWU releases Annual Water Quality Report
- EPA seeks details of Madison’s Lead Service Replacement Program
- Madison women make history -- with a little help from their friends
- Sometimes, it's what you don't see
- MWU honored for winning Best-Tasting Water in the state!
- Wisconsin's first ever women's tapping team created at MWU
Serving the Community
- “Got Water?” project announces 2020 hydration station schools!
- Final segment of decade-long water main project underway
- Toilet Rebate Program hits 1 billion gallons of water saved!
- Worst-case: What happens when a water main breaks under an airport taxiway?
- Wild February weather takes toll on water mains
- “Got Water?” initiative reaches more than 11,000 students
- Imagine a Day Without Water
- Madison Water Utility adds first new well in more than a decade
- High school students get hands-on training at MWU
- Two Madison Water Utility projects getting national attention
- Imagine a Day Without Water
- What does your water dollar pay for?
- Partnership with Project Home making an impact
- What does your water dollar pay for?
- You can now register to vote at Madison Water Utility!
- Planned Blackhawk Water Tower signals growth on the far west side
- MWU invests millions in water infrastructure on northeast side
- Frozen on the inside: Indoor flooding season is here
- Madison Water Utility first in state to launch "ultimate conservation tool"
- The Water Wagon: A cool lesson in sustainability
- New downtown community garden takes root in unlikely spot
- East Johnson Street: No Ordinary Construction Zone
- Major public works project set to begin on north side
- When there's a fire: MWU's critical mission
- Wisconsin Water for the World: Making a difference one village at a time
- Blindsided: When drivers don't see work zones
- The winter that won't be forgotten
- Frozen on the inside: Indoor flooding season is here
- Bad Medicine
Sustainability
- Madison Water Utility reports unprecedented drop in city’s water use
- Final segment of decade-long water main project underway
- EVERY DROP MADISON poll closes soon!
- Average aquifer levels highest in a generation
- Toilet Rebate Program hits 1 billion gallons of water saved!
- Lost Lou and Peter Barryman tune about conservation gets new life.
- Flushing program puts Madison "on the forefront"
- Wild February weather takes toll on water mains
- Annual water use in Madison drops by a billion gallons in six years
- Madison Water Utility adds first new well in more than a decade
- A funny song about a serious thing
- Water use in Madison drops to lowest level in 50 years
- Catching catastrophic plumbing problems -- through email
- 100 miles of main
- Saving Madison from salt
- You have a voice! MWU seeks public input on critical water issues
- How low can we go?
- Why all the main breaks?
- Madison woman gets serious about water conservation, wins an iPad
- MWU customers catch plumbing leaks – online
- All eyes on the aquifer: Is Madison's water supply sustainable?
- Our graywater experiment: 10 years and counting
- Madison Water Utility first in state to launch "ultimate conservation tool"
- When winter's over: the lasting impact of road salt
- Why all the main breaks?
- Bad Medicine
- Our graywater experiment: 8 years and counting
Water quality
- "We'll be doing this forever." Understanding the impact of PFAS
- EVERY DROP MADISON poll closes soon!
- Imagine a Day Without Water
- Widely used chemicals detected in two Madison wells
- Saving Madison from salt
- Into the bore hole: Tackling the road salt problem at a west side well
- Saving Madison from salt
- Madisonians cite safety and conservation as top water issues
- Why add chlorine? The story behind water disinfection
- Water main flushing puts Madison "on the forefront"
- EPA looks to Madison as leader on lead pipe issue
- Saving Madison from salt
- No easy answers for Well 8
- As Safe Drinking Water Act turns 40, Madison ramps up testing
- Taking safety seriously: The story behind water chlorination
Tags
- aquifer
- Arbor Hills
- AWWA
- Barrymans
- Blackhawk
- Booster Pump Station 106
- CAP
- capitol
- chloride
- chlorine
- Clean Water
- Climate Change
- Common Council
- Community
- Conservation
- cost
- cost of water
- Customer Care
- Customer service
- disinfection
- drinking water
- Education
- efficiency
- energy
- engineering
- environment
- EPA
- Fire
- Fire protection
- Flooded houses
- freezing
- Frozen pipes
- Got Water
- Got Water?
- graywater
- Greywater
- healthy kids
- History
- hydration
- Imagine a Day Without Water
- Inclusive workplace
- Infrastructure
- John Heim
- John Muir
- Lake View Hill
- lakes
- lead pipes
- lead service replacement program
- leaks
- Lou and Peter
- Lou and Peter Barryman
- Low Income
- Mad City Tappers
- Mad Women on Tap
- Madison
- Madison City Channel
- Madison Kipp
- Madison Municipal Services
- Madison Water
- Madison Water Utility
- Main breaks
- Michael Edmonds
- MWU
- New well
- North Madison
- O'Dea
- Operation center
- Paterson
- Perfluorinated compounds
- PFAS
- pipes
- Placemaking
- plumbing
- Private Wells
- Project H2O
- Project Home
- Projects
- Public Works
- pumping
- Recycled water
- Remucal
- Reservoir Park
- Road Salt
- Safety
- shower
- Southeast
- stormwater
- study
- Survey
- Sustainability
- Tap Water
- Tapping Team
- TeamCity
- Technology
- Testing
- Testing
- Toilet Rebate
- UW
- UW Madison
- Wanda Fullmore Youth Internship Program
- water
- water bill
- Water board
- Water conservation
- Water Main
- Water main flushing
- Water Mains
- Water Quality
- Water Quality Report
- water safety
- Water supply
- Water Tower
- Water Utility
- Water Wagon
- Water Works
- WaterSense
- watershed
- Well 14
- Well 31
- Well 8
- Wellhead Protection
- West Madison
- west side
- Winter
- Winter Safety
- Winterization
- WiSaltWise
- Women's
- Women's History Month
- World War II
- WWA