Waterproofing the outside

Tank is coated with a tarry substance up about 6' above ground level. This will be behind the dirt berm that is going to be built up, and is to protect the concrete/steel from water intrusion.

Taken 2008-3-18

Shrinkwrapping

The tank is now shrinkwrapped. This prevents water from escaping the concrete, which results in a harder concrete.

Taken 2008-3-9

More concrete

Another 2" of concrete has been sprayed on the outside of the steel cables. This is to protect the cables from water intrusion, which would cause rust and failure of the cable.

Taken 2008-3-7

Wire Wrapped and Pre-tensioned

The tank has been wrapped with approximately 20 miles of 3/8" steel cable and pretensioned to 15,000 lbs. This has tightened up the vertical seams so that the tank is structurally more sound and watertight.

Taken 2008-3-5

The Rest of the story

Wll, here's the smoking gun and the rest of the story. The Arizona Republic article can be found here. All of us believed from the beginning that the ultimate purpose of the town placing the tank in our neighborhood was to provide water to the developers outside of the town limits. Guess we sorta knew this all along even if it we being denied by the town for such a long time.