Newberry Tower Leaking

Cold temperatures and ice in the Upper Peninsula are being blamed for leaks in Newberry’s water tower. Lori Stokes with Newberry Water & Light says they believe ice may have worn through an area where welded brackets were used when the tower was refurbished a couple of years ago. A hole popped about half way up the tower. Three copper plugs also popped inside the lower part of the tower causing leaks in the bottom. Stokes says they’ve lowered the water level in the tower to prevent leaking. So far, it has not affected water pressure in the community. She says they hope to have someone climb the tower next week when temperatures are expected to be warmer to assess the damage. The entire village is under a let run order due to frozen water pipes from extremely cold temperatures this winter. It affects about 870 customers.