Inspections and Infrastructure Ensure Hicksville Water is As Good As It Gets

June 23, 2021

Hicksville Water District Has an Eye on Tank Quality

 Hicksville, NY (June 23, 2021)— The Hicksville Water District (HWD) takes pride in its ability to provide residents with the highest quality drinking water possible no matter the circumstances. While the investments in new capital projects are taking the community’s water quality to the next level, routine maintenance and inspections of existing infrastructure, such as our water storage tanks, ensure our systems are always in top working order.

“Maintaining the safety and quality of our water supply is always the Hicksville Water District’s chief goal,” said HWD Commissioner Karl Schweitzer. “We are proactively inspecting and rehabilitating our water storage facilities to make sure that residents never have to worry about the quality of their tanks. Our water is of high quality and safe to drink. This is largely due to our commitment to routine maintenance and continuous investment into our infrastructure.”

The Hicksville community has five water storage tanks: two elevated tanks and three ground tanks. The elevated tanks are perfect examples of physics in action, as they store potential energy in the water before it is sent out for consumption. In other words, the weight of the water in our elevated tanks pressurizes the distribution system without the need of additional pumps or electricity. This is the most cost-effective way to pressurize a water system and is extremely valuable in emergency situations such as widespread losses of power.

The structural design of the tanks provides extra protection for the District’s water, making sure that animals and insects are kept out. Nonetheless, the District conducts comprehensive inspections of the tanks twice per year as required by the Nassau County Health Department. Inspectors climb into the tanks and perform visual inspections, searching for corrosion and breaches. This, plus routine sampling protocols, ensures that there isn’t any development of bacteria in the District’s water storage tanks. Additionally, the District has the tanks fully cleaned and repainted every 10 to 15 years.