MONTGOMERY COUNTY — It can take minutes for water to freeze in extremely cold temperatures.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, officials with Montgomery County and the City of Dayton share how they keep their water supplies from freezing during this time of year.
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“It’s actually all in the design of the entire water system or the distribution system,” Keith Baker, Montgomery County Environmental Services Field Services Director, said.
Baker told News Center 7 that a lot of Montgomery County’s water towers are one-million-gallon tanks.
The water typically doesn’t freeze because it’s constantly moving.
“How it moves through it is usually the pump stations that are positioned around the distribution system by turning on and off and then the demand from customers keeps the water constantly turned and changing over inside the tower,” Baker said.
He said the 14 water towers across Montgomery County involve about 20 million gallons of water.
The county also has a five-million-gallon tank underground in Kettering called “The Reservoir.”
County supervisors said the pipes carrying water throughout the county aren’t exposed to freezing temperatures because they are about five feet underground.
“Then the service line will come out of the water main almost at that depth, four to five feet, go into the residence, into a basement for example,” Baker said.
A spokesperson with the City of Dayton told News Center 7 that the water in their towers doesn’t freeze because it’s in constant motion. They also said the water temperature in the towers is usually around 50 degrees.
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