Replacing a century-old reservoir, thanks to SRF funding
November 3, 2025
AWWA Articles
Replacing a century-old reservoir, thanks to SRF funding
When a community’s water infrastructure is more than a century old, the stakes for renewal are high. In Canton, Ohio, the city’s main storage reservoir — constructed around 1920 — has served generations but in recent years finally showed signs of wear.
“Divers went in to evaluate the internal structure and there was some spalling of the concrete, cracks in the ceiling, and other places where you could start to see effervescence coming through,” said Tyler Converse, Canton’s water superintendent. “That could indicate that water is coming in from the outside.”
Thanks to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), Canton is now on the cusp of a major upgrade that will secure safe, reliable water for its 100,000 residents for decades to come.
The new reservoir will be about half the size of the original — 7.25-million-gallon capacity compared with 15 million — but will be far more efficient. “The usable capacity of the water stored in that tank will be nearly the same,” Converse said. “It’s just a more efficient structure.”
The original reservoir’s square shape and low profile limited how much water could be used at any given time, because of pressure and hydraulic constraints. “It had to do with the elevation within our distribution system — you can’t necessarily drain it all out without dropping below certain pressure limits,” he said.
The new reservoir will be cylindrical in shape and partially below and above ground, allowing for better water turnover and more consistent pressure. “The water will cycle through this new reservoir more frequently than it did in the existing reservoir,” Converse said. “The water is fresher, so to speak, and has less chance of bacterial growth.”
The total cost of the project is almost $18 million, and a low-cost SRF loan is covering about $14 million. “The low-interest loans are why SRF funds tend to be so valuable for drinking water communities and wastewater communities for infrastructure,” Converse said. By providing loans with interest rates below market, utilities can take on major overhauls and upgrades that are essential to the longevity of the system.
“Perhaps if the SRFs weren’t there with their low interest rates, we would have gone to the open market… and we would have paid substantially more interest,” Converse said. “Any additional cost like that just gets passed on to the ratepayers, and we try to be as efficient as we can with money.”
Demolition of the current structure is set for this fall, and Converse hopes construction can begin in the spring. As he navigates the logistical challenges of taking a major reservoir offline for a year, the importance of continued SRF funding is clear. “Quite frankly, I don’t know what we’d do without these funds. It’s incredibly important that Congress continue to fund these sources of monies for us to do these projects,” he said.
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