Knowles Road Water Tower

The Village of Gurnee finished the long awaited construction of the Knowles Road Water Tower in summer 2020. This project was started following the removal of the Old Grand Water Tower #1, one of the five above ground water storage facilities maintained by the Village of Gurnee. The Village needed to increase total storage capacity and also identified the need to improve water pressure and reliability residents west of Hunt Club Road. With this construction there was increased water pressure and the Village saw additional water storage, increasing the total capacity to approximately 8 million gallons, or 2.2 days of average consumption. In addition to the construction of the Knowles Road Water Tower, the Village made additional improvements to the Village's water distribution system by constructing a booster pump station and steel prefabricated pressure reducing valve stations located on Almond Road and Foxworth Lane. These improvements were financed primarily through a loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, administered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The $6,132,208 loan has an interest rate of 1.84% and will be repaid over 20 years.

Knowles Water Tower FAQ

  1. Why the need for the new water tower?

    2. Current System & Existing Conditions

    Currently the Village receives its water from CLC JAWA (Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency) and is able to provide up to 6.2 million gallons of above ground storage with five facilities. In spring 2018 one of the five facilities will be removed from the system and taken out of service. This will drop the total storage to 6.0 million gallons or 1.7 days of average consumption. Additionally, the Village has two wells and one service connection with the City of Waukegan that are utilize in emergency situations for additional supply.

    Overall the Village is able to provide a very high level of service to its residents in terms of high water pressure and reliability. The average water pressure throughout the community is between 70 & 80 pounds per square inch. The western limits of town, where the elevation of the grade is highest above sea level, neighborhoods have the lowest water pressures between 30 & 50 pounds per square inch.

    Conclusion

    By building the water tower on the higher side of the Village we will be able to utilize gravity to pressurize the water distribution system. This will ultimately improve the water reliability and pressure for residents in the far western sections of Gurnee. The tower will also provide additional water storage for the Village increasing the overall capacity to approximately 8 million gallons or 2.2 days of average consumption. This benefits the entire community in emergency situations when supply does not equal demand or when supply has been temporarily disconnected. The Village will be able to provide water for the entire community for an extended time until supply can be restored. 

  2. Where exactly is the Knowles Road Water Tower?

    3. The Knowles Road Water Tower was installed at 1525 Knowles Road on a vacant parcel owned by the Village, near the end of Knowles Road and adjacent to Rollins Road. The below map shows the exact location of the new tower.

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  3. When was the water tower built?

    4. The Knowles Road tower began construction in 2018 and was completed on schedule in summer 2020.

  4. What is the capacity of the tower?

    5. The Knowles Road water tower is a 2,000,000 million gallon structure. To put the capacity in perspective, the removed Old Grand Water Tower held 1/10th that amount or 200,000 gallons of water.

  5. How much did the tower cost? How is it being paid for?

    6. We recently made improvements to the Village’s water distribution system including construction of a 2-million gallon elevated water storage tank located at 1525 Knowles Road, a booster pump station located at 869 Almond Road, a steel prefabricated pressure reducing valve station located on Almond Road, and a steel prefabricated pressure reducing valve station located on Foxworth Avenue. The improvements involved the creation of a new pressure zone (Pressure Zone 5) in the water distribution system, and an additional redundant water source to our main water supplier. This installation has improved water quality for area residents and businesses in the Village of Gurnee by increasing the amount of water storage available to the water system, creating a redundant connection to Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency, and increasing and maintaining higher water pressure for all residents west of Hunt Club Road. These improvements were financed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF). The SRF program is administered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and receives a portion of its money to fund these types of projects from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The $6,132,208 loan has an interest rate of 1.84% and will be repaid over 20 years. SRF programs operate in each state to provide communities the resources necessary to build, maintain, and improve the infrastructure that protects one of our most valuable resources: water.