Progress is continuing on the Ironton water tank project.

The $1.58 million tank on Nixon Hill will hold 2 million gallons of water and will replace a 100-year-old tank that has been leaking water for years.

Paul Sheets, the city’s engineering tech, said the project is going well so far.

“Right now, they have completed the earth work and will begin to install the rebar and concrete next,” he said. “They will also start the precasting of the tank walls and roof.”

He said the contract calls for the project to be finished by Feb. 2. Sheets said the old tank has a crack in the floor.

The old tank was part of Ironton’s original water system and has been in disrepair for years. The facility was abandoned, except for the well and the waterlines, years ago when the city built a new system along the Ohio River.

The new project includes a 12-inch diameter water line to the U.S. 52/State Route 141 interchange that connects with a main line.

“It’s my understanding that the new tank will stand about 35 feet out of the ground,” Ironton Mayor Rich Blankenship said.

He added the old underground tank has been leaking about 3,000 gallons a day, which costs the city and thus the taxpayers money.

“We are losing a large amount of water on a daily basis,” he said, adding that it is water that has already been treated for human consumption. “It’s just running out of the old tank into a creek. So this new tank will eliminate that issue altogether.”

He said it costs the city because of the chemicals that are used to treat the water. How much the new tank will save the city is unknown at this time.

“We will review that after it is operation,” Blankenship said. “We know it will cut down on chemical costs so it will save the taxpayers money because we won’t have to produce as much water.”

“The main thing is to have a new, more efficient tank,” he said.

Blankenship said the city didn’t know how much it would cost to empty and repair the old tank and if it would have even been worth it to keep repairing an old tank.

“I think that tank has served its purpose,” he said. “The city got to use for a century.”