New reservoir is filled and almost ready to pump

By Terry Murry on Tuesday, July 25th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

PENDLETON – The new reservoir on Airport Hill is operational. The 2-million-gallon welded steel reservoir was filled over the weekend and is now providing additional storage for the city’s gravity water pressure zone. Next step will be completing the water booster pump station.

That pump station is designed to handle 4,500 gallons of water per minute, which will open up the airport’s industrial parks to even more development. The plan had been to fill the reservoir and increase the water pressure at the same time, but supply chain issues interfered with that.

“The booster’s pump station’s main control center – the main electrical cabinet – was ordered in spring 2022 and still has not arrived in Pendleton,” a news release from the city stated. “Once that final piece of equipment arrives, the electrical work can be completed, and the booster pump station opened.”

Upon that completion, the new reservoir and pump station will replace the 1940s vintage pump stations and reservoirs built in the 1970s that currently serve the area. The $10.5 million project is part of the city’s Water System Master Plan that was adopted in 2015.

Photo from the city of Pendleton