Rehabilitation work began this week on the city’s 500,000-gallon water storage tank, located at the north end of Sixth Street across from the Oasis Cove Apartments. The work is one piece of a larger municipal infrastructure project made possible in part by $588,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding awarded to the City of Canadian.

City Manager Joe Jarosek said the first step in the storage tank project was to drain the water entirely, noting that about 95 percent of the 500,000 gallons removed were transferred to another city water tank.

Crews for Viking Painting LLC began preparatory work Monday for sandblasting the exterior paint and built-up sediment inside the tank. The paint that is removed will be captured and disposed of in an approved facility, and all disturbed grasses will be reseeded.

Additional work will include modification of the service entry; rehabilitation of the roof, structural steel and side gauge; and replacement of the main valve. At the project’s conclusion, the entire facility will be repainted.

City Water Department employees have also begun replacing 35-year-old valves at the pump house while the tank undergoes refurbishment.

The project, which is being monitored by Hi-Plains Civil Engineers to ensure proper documentation and compliance with all applicable Texas Commission on Environmental Quality standards and requirements, is expected to cost approximately $463,000.

The city’s multi-phase infrastructure project began last month with replacement of the city’s Red Deer lift station, at a cost of $292,000. The lift station had been installed in the mid-1960s and had reached the end of its life expectancy. It is essential because it pumps wastewater and sewage through different terrain and over changes in elevation to the city’s treatment plant.

To help with costs of the infrastructure improvements, Hemphill County Commissioners in November 2022 agreed to pitch in an additional $182,000 of their ARPA funding allocation.