{"id":237673,"date":"2026-04-06T20:55:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/237673\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T20:55:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:55:37","slug":"parker-road-water-tower-undergoes-7-7m-rehabilitation-to-remove-chemicals-extend-lifespan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/237673\/","title":{"rendered":"Parker Road water tower undergoes $7.7M rehabilitation to remove chemicals, extend lifespan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPlano officials are spending $7.7 million to upgrade a water tower near Parker Road and Premier Drive, according to city <a href=\"https:\/\/content.civicplus.com\/api\/assets\/2b3a9f38-0090-456c-8b62-7ee9ab1f1b9a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">documents<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Crews are replacing the tower\u2019s protective coating with a new long-lasting formula made without harmful molecules known as PFAS chemicals, said Drew Zaeske, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.plano.gov\/556\/Public-Works\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Plano public works<\/a> community investment program manager.<\/p>\n<p>Construction on the project started last December and is expected to wrap up this fall.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s new<\/p>\n<p>Plano\u2019s water towers are made of steel and coated with a special protective paint.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, Plano\u2019s towers used a coating designed to last 15-20 years, Zaeske said.<\/p>\n<p>At the Parker Road water tower, crews are removing the old coating and replacing it with a new coating that Zaeske hopes will extend the lifespan of the tower by five to 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>The new coating is also made without PFAS chemicals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf leached into the water and consumed, [PFAS chemicals have] been shown they can cause negative health effects to the liver and kidneys and may be carcinogenic,\u201d Zaeske said.<\/p>\n<p>While the Environmental Protection Agency is still studying how infrastructure like water towers contribute to human exposure, Plano officials are trying to get ahead of the curve by using PFAS-free materials when possible, according to Zaekse.<\/p>\n<p>The EPA hasn\u2019t banned PFAS chemicals in the water system, \u201cbut obviously it\u2019s best practice to avoid using them if possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the new coating, the Parker Road water tower rehabilitation also includes several structural upgrades, including:<\/p>\n<p>Safety improvements to the tankTwo new water valvesImproved vehicle access for staffLooking ahead<\/p>\n<p>Public Works rotates through the city\u2019s water towers to perform routine maintenance based on available funding and the condition of each tower, Zaeske said.<\/p>\n<p>The next water tower slated for rehabilitation is located near Jupiter Drive and Spring Creek Parkway. Design for that project is scheduled to start later this year, he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plano officials are spending $7.7 million to upgrade a water tower near Parker Road and Premier Drive, according&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1494,714,91381,160,162,161,91380],"class_list":{"0":"post-237673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-construction","9":"tag-parker-road","10":"tag-pfas-chemicals","11":"tag-plano","12":"tag-plano-headlines","13":"tag-plano-news","14":"tag-water-tower"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}