Smart
Holding Tank
System
- Location: Lakeside Park in Jacksonport, Wisconsin
- Size: Three 3,000 gal holding tanks
- Contractor: Chris Fellner
- Purpose: To provide holding tanks for the Lakeside Park restrooms.
About this Project
Along the shores of Lake Michigan lies Lakeside Park, a public park in Jacksonport, Wisconsin. For many years, the park was served with pit toilets. However, the town is currently in the process of constructing a new building complete with bathrooms, an exterior foot shower, and a drinking fountain. It is a “smart building” with a Wi-Fi system that allows the town to monitor the building remotely. Included in the smart features are security cameras, the ability to lock and unlock doors, and a Wi-Fi holding tank alarm. The tank alarm will email and text the town and pumper when the holding tanks reach a specified liquid capacity. Three separate sewer suction lines were installed along State Highway 57 to allow the pumper to conveniently park in designated parking spots and service the holding tanks without the challenge of backing into a driveway along the highway.
“Wieser Concrete produces a solid low-profile holding tank. Due to the elevation of Lake Michigan, the depth to groundwater, and the flowing sand conditions, the low profile tank was preferred,” Chris Fellner, the contractor for the building project, pointed out. The Town of Jacksonport requested a holding tank volume that could be serviced completely by a pumper with a semi tanker, which is approximately 7,500 gallons. Wieser Concrete produced three 3,000 gallon tanks used in series, which allows the servicing pumper to haul a full load as well as providing plenty of storage capacity for the use of the park bathrooms. Because the bottom of the excavation for the tanks was two feet lower than the current Lake Michigan water elevation, the excavators needed to take precautions to keep the site safe and make sure the grade was kept intact for the tank installation. Chris mentioned, “With dewatering and the excellent Wieser boom truck operator Brent, we were able to set these three holding tanks in just a few hours, which included setting the covers on the holding tanks.”
