By Charles Pederson, Guest Blogger
Are they giant Martians, marching with their spiderlike legs across the countryside? No! They’re water towers. Once you notice one, you begin to see them everywhere, especially in the Midwest. Greg DiLoreto, past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, commented that the flatness of the landscape lends itself to water tower usage. “Elsewhere, we have reservoirs, but they’re tanks that are up in the hills.”
Most water towers are administered by municipalities (towns, cities), though many companies or other organizations (3M in Saint Paul or Eaton in Eden Prairie come to mind) have their own water sources. Depending on size, most municipalities have one or more—sometimes many more. Shakopee, for example has five water towers and three in-ground storage tanks.
Water Tower Basics
The concept of storing water for later use is ancient. The ancient Romans, for example, used the impluvium, a cistern-like basin, to catch rainwater and store it beneath a house.
The idea of water towers, however, goes back to the later 19th century. Early wooden structures gave way to modern building materials including concrete, metal, and other materials.
Wood was a common building material used for early water towers, such as this reservoir used to refill the boilers of steam trains. (Photo courtesy of Scott County Historical Society.)
Water towers, water tanks, and other reservoirs serve two purposes: first, to store water and, second, to distribute water by creating water pressure within a pipe system. Water towers are placed in strategic water pressure zones, each serving a given number of homes in an area. The tower is located at the highest place in a zone, reducing, according to Tony Myers of the Shakopee Public Utilities Commission (SPU) “the overall cost of the water tower as it does not have to be constructed as high to achieve the desired water pressure.” Correct placement also ensures consistent water pressure even at moments of heavy use. The pressure uses gravity to push that water through large pipes that branch off into smaller and smaller pipes until they finally enter your home. You’ve seen the effect: you turn on a faucet, and water comes out. Thank you, Local Water Tower!
The first water tower in Shakopee was constructed in the 1920s, according to Myers, and was among the first in Scott County. It was a standpipe (exactly what it sounds like: a tall pipe with water inside it) at Holmes Street and Shakopee Avenue.
A standpipe from ca. 1910 stood at the northern edge of Gustavus Adophus College in Saint Peter, providing water pressure for the campus and town. (Photo courtesy of Nicollet County Historical Society.)
As of 2022, Minnesota had 1,056 water towers, according to the very helpful Minnesota Water Towers (MWT) website. Scott County alone boasts about 20 water towers, along with additional in-ground storage tanks. Said Myers, “The average water tower costs between 2 and 5 million dollars to construct and between $750,000 and 2 million dollars to repaint.”
Types of Water Towers
The MWT website counts 11 different types of water towers. Most fit into a few categories: standpipes, cylinders with a round or flat top, spheres or spheroids, and short or tall reservoirs. Water towers can have a single central pillar or several legs supporting them.
The most common type of water tower in Minnesota (at a total of 335) is the one-thin-leg-with-round-top type, sometimes called a watersphere. These golf-ball-on-a-tee-shaped water towers can be found on the Shakopee Mdewakanton tribal lands (SMSC) near Prior Lake, as well as in Belle Plaine, Savage, Elko New Market, and New Prague. Most modern towers can hold in the hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of gallons of water.
Waterspheres are popular types of water towers, such as the water tower at Belle Plaine. (Photo courtesy of SCHS.)
The average age of tee-shaped water towers is 28 years. Constructed in 1940, the tower, located near the Shakopee community center, is certainly among the oldest currently standing in Scott County. At 130 feet in height and a capacity of 250,000 gallons, it was hailed as an engineering breakthrough. It greatly increased local water capacity, its spherical construction reduced wind resistance, and its steel plates were welded rather than riveted for strength and lightweight performance. It replaced the earlier Shakopee standpipe.
Scott County Water Towers
We couldn’t find definitive historical information on water towers for all Scott County towns, but we were able to dig up some other interesting information.
Belle Plaine
Downtown Belle Plaine, 1896 (Image courtesy of the Scott County Historical Society).
An 1896 photo (above), apart from looking quaint and old-timey, shows off Belle Plaine’s “giraffe” water tower, so called because it was considered a monstrosity. The giraffe replaced a town well, located in the center of town, which had been used mainly for fighting fires. A special election was required in late 1907 to replace the giraffe with a new steel water tower—capacity 50,000 gallons. It cost $8,786 (around $300,000 today).
Jordan
Jordan water tower photographed by LeRoy Lebens, c. 1975-1985 (Image courtesty of SCHS).
The Jordan Independent reported on a near-fatality when a newly constructed water tower was painted in the 1970s. “Tragedy almost struck when a worker fell while painting a leg on the tower.” It’s unclear whether he was injured.
New Prague
Main Street looking east, New Prague, Minnesota (Image courtesy of the New Prague Area Historical Society).
New Prague water tower photographed by LeRoy Lebens, c. 1965-1975 (Image courtesy of the Scott County Historical Society).
A 1900-era photo of New Prague’s Main Street (top) includes a view of the water tower. The land had been donated by local Elias Bruzek. A 1970s-era photo shows a newer, 300,000-gallon water tower. The Jordan Independent reported that “a 22-year-old painter from Stephen, Minn., died [when he] fell 90 feet off the New Prague water tower.”
Prior Lake
Prior Lake water tower, 1973 (Image courtesy of the Scott County Historical Society).
A wooden water tower from ca. 1875 (top) was located at the edge of Prior Lake. The Scott County Historical Society in Shakopee displays an 18-foot-long board from that tower. A 1973 photo depicts a later downtown cone-hat water tower on Main Street. The current 750,000-gallon tower was constructed in 1973 and repainted about 20 years later at a cost of $790,000.
Savage
(Image courtesy of the City of Savage)
Photographed in the mid-1960s, the first Savage water tower stood near city hall. The tower was demolished in 2000.
Shakopee
(Image courtesy of the Scott County Historical Society).
The spherical tower near the Shakopee Community Center was constructed in 1940. A sign at the tower’s base proclaimed that the tower was 130 feet tall with a 42-foot “ball.” The April 1, 1940, Shakopee Argus claimed that it was the world’s tallest of its kind. Filling the 250,000-gallon reservoir took all night and then some. The letters in the word Shakopee were more than four and half feet tall, with the entire word coming in at 28 feet long. In September 1940, the Argus noted that, when the water was released into the city water mains, the sudden increase in water pressure caused some bursting of home water pipes. A major rupture in the mains occurred at the Rock Spring bottling company downtown.
Shakopee Water
Tony Myers of SPU provided more specific information about Shakopee’s water. SPU began in 1951 as a nonpartisan organization operating with qualified experts to maximize efficiency in the water utilities.
· Shakopee maintains five water towers and three ground tanks located in three pressure zones.
· Shakopee relies on four wells for water supply. The wells draw from three aquifers, which hold underground water: Jordan, Tunnel City Wonewok, and Mount Simon Hinkley.
· Over 20 miles of water pipes crisscross the city.
· Approximately 300,000 gallons of water are pumped daily.
· Shakopee maintains 500 fire hydrants.
· New water towers are constructed as development occurs in an area, increasing water demand.
· Aquifer levels are monitored daily. A critically low level has not yet been reached. “Since SPU’s wells are spread throughout the city,” said Myers, “we have the ability to alternate which wells run, as not to significantly impact the aquifer levels in an area of town.”
· Water is constantly tested for contamination. If contamination were detected, wells and towers could be isolated from the system without interrupting the provision of safe drinking water.
Aquifer Primer
To have a well, you need an aquifer—a layer of underground permeable or porous rock, sand, or gravel deposit that can hold water. Sandier, looser deposits typically refill faster than clayey deposits. In eastern and northeastern Scott County, especially along the Minnesota River, the fastest recharge rates are found. Central and southern areas consist of more clay-like deposits. Dale Setterholm in the Geologic Atlas User’s Guide likens an aquifer to a bank account. Water coming in is like income, and water pumped out is like spending. When more water is pumped out than comes in, the level falls. “This is like spending money faster than your income provides it,” says Setterholm. “Your bank account shrinks.” Aquifers are refilled through infiltration (movement of water from surface to aquifer) or recharge (movement of water below the surface).
Water falls to Earth’s surface and infiltrates the underground layers to refill aquifers (Courtesy of Geologic Atlas User’s Guide).
Aquifers are often sandwiched between moisture-resistant underground layers called aquitards (Courtesy of Geologic Atlas User’s Guide).
For assistance with this article, many thanks to Diana Brenke of the Jordan Area Historical Society, Emily Gunderson of the City of Savage, and Tony Myers of the SPU. If you have more information on water towers in Scott County, we’d love to hear about it. Contact us via either our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SCHSHistory) or our email address (info@scottcountyhistory.org).
Learn More!
Henderson [KY] Water Utility. (n.d.). Why Do We Have Water Towers? Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20210722182032/https://www.hkywater.org/education/i-didnt-know-that/why-water-towers
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (2021, March). Groundwater Atlas User Guide. https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/groundwater_section/mapping/groundwater-atlas-user-guide.pdf
Minnesota Water Towers. (2022). [Home Page]. https://www.minnesotawatertowers.com/home
National Geographic. (n.d.). Aquifers. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/aquifers/
Reinan, John. (2019, November 2). Why Do We Have Water Towers and What Do They Do? https://www.startribune.com/why-are-there-so-many-water-towers-in-minnesota-and-what-do-they-do/563803581/
Scott County (MN). (2006). Subsurface Recharge and Surface Infiltration. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.scottcountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/989/Plate-6-Subsurface-Recharge-and-Surface-Infiltration-PDF&ved=2ahUKEwiryc-Lx4qFAxV6E0QIHbGeAVkQFnoECA8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0R8yDSABT9i4DMJvMwWaPh
Setterholm, Dale R., & Tipping, Robert G. (2006). Plate 6, Subsurface Recharge and Surface Infiltration. In Geologic Atlas of Scott County, Minnesota. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/58717
Setterholm, Dale R. (2019). Geologic Atlas User’s Guide. https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/166713/CGA_users_guide2019.pdf?sequence=12&isAllowed=y
Staff Report. (2023, March 2). Plans Finalized for Water Tower [Jordan] Repaint. https://www.swnewsmedia.com/jordan_independent/plans-finalized-for-water-tower-repaint/article_5a6f526c-b451-11ed-9200-d7d64acd84ec.html
SWnewsmedia. (2020, Jan 23). 50 Years Ago: Jordan Water Tower Constructed. https://www.swnewsmedia.com/jordan_independent/news/local/looking_back/50-years-ago-jordan-water-tower-constructed/article_0c92145d-9274-5516-ab5d-df1ba12d2666.html
Wikipedia. (n.d.) Water Tower. Accessed January 31, 2024: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_tower