Water tower painting project in Vernon Hills nearing completion

About all that's left to finish on the big water tower painting project in Vernon Hills is the village logo.

Two of the 11 letters in the sloping moniker have been applied to the face of the 500,000-gallon tower but the rest is expected to be placed and painted by the end of next week, barring bad weather.

In June, the Lake County Board authorized a contract for $529,000 to rehab what is known as the Hawthorn tower, which holds Lake Michigan water supplied by the county.

The tower at Hawthorn Parkway and West End Court, just east of Butterfield Road, was built in 1972 and was last painted in the mid-1990s. Crews began applying the new coat in July.

A large shroud known as a containment curtain was put in place to contain materials as existing lead paint was removed, and to contain overspray when the new coat was applied. The fresh paint does not contain lead.

The tower was repaired and repainted and the interior was recoated. The logo will be placed and painted into next week and there are miscellaneous areas to be finish coated after rigging points on the exterior roof are removed.

After the painting is complete, the tank will be disinfected with chlorine and bacteriologically tested before being put back online, according to Rick Leber with Robinson Engineering.

Vernon Hills is part of Lake County's water distribution system, which obtains Lake Michigan water supplied by the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency.

The system has four water storage reservoirs and two elevated towers that hold more than 3 million gallons. Water was provided to area customers during the painting project from other parts of the system.

County and village officials are discussing a new 2 million gallon water storage facility but a location has not been finalized.