WEST ODESSA, Texas — Improving the quality of water in West Odessa has been in the works for years.
On Thursday, people in the area started to see some of those improvements, as construction and placement of two above-ground water storage tanks began.
NewsWest 9 spoke with Tommy Ervin, President of the Ector County Utility District. He said the construction company that was hired did the job quicker than expected.
"Approximately at 8:25, the tank started moving up, and what should've taken six to eight hours happened in an hour and half," said Ervin.
Ervin believes the water tanks are important to that part of town because they address issues of the past.
"Our system here was designed in 1976, and it has grown in little pieces at a time," said Ervin. "Ever since we have had issues right here with low water pressure and low quality of water, we have had a lot of deficiencies in our system. The tower will correct those deficiencies."
Ervin said the above-ground storage tanks will be connected to a new pump station and to a 6.2 million gallon surface storage tank north of 42nd Street and Tripp Avenue.
"We are taking on a lot of problems with water pressure and water volume problems," said Ervin. "The tanks will help with all of that."
A main reason behind the project is to reduce the time people are without water in times where the weather gets cooler.
"The first of 2019 to 2020, we were out here without water for five days," said Erwin. "We are prepared to fix that again. If something like that happens, we might be down for 24 to 36 hours."
Ervin said the ECUD expects completion of the two above-ground water storage tanks in 2022 and placement in service by the fall of 2022.
The tank that was raised on Thursday is located at 1700 S. Tripp Ave. The second water tank is located on Knox Avenue. It will be raised in the next few days.