UC Davis workers will demolish Domestic Water Tower No. 2, located west of Highway 113, at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The 100,000-gallon water tower, erected in 1967, is about 150 feet tall with an exterior lead-based paint coating that is corroding, said David Phillips, a facilities services water and waste services manager.

Campus planners had initially planned to sandblast Tower No. 2 and repaint it, Phillips said. "But they found it was actually less expensive to build a new tank and tear down the old tower," he said of the $782,000 project to construct a new 300,000 gallon ground-level water tank near the campus airport.

Ground tanks and towers both provide water storage to meet peak demands and help maintain consistent water pressures.

"This project highlights the benefits of creative infrastructure planning. We leveraged a simple maintenance task into a more cost-effective project that greatly improved our campus water system," Phillips said.

The proposed project went through an environmental review and public comment period last year.

In 2000, the university chose to re-coat and repaint Domestic Water Tower No. 1, which now carries the UC Davis logo and is visible from Interstate 80. That $730,000 project included encasing the entire tower with plastic wrap to contain the lead paint and took several months to complete.

A decision has not yet been made regarding the fate of the rusting Utility Tower No. 1, located near the Dairy Barn on the main campus.

Demolition of Domestic Water Tower No. 2 should be relatively quick, he said. The process will begin by draining all water from the tower and establishing a safe boundary around the tower. Two of the four legs will then be cut, and the tower will be pulled over in a southerly direction to an agricultural field.

To reach the water tower site, take the Hutchison Drive exit from Highway 113 and travel west to Campbell Road. Turn left on Campbell Road and drive south to Garrod Drive. A safe viewing area will be available to the press.