Make Way, “SAVE FERRIS” Water Tower

The good news: Workers are making progress to have Northbrook’s new million-gallon water tower up and flowing by this fall.

The bad news: The fate of the old tower—famous for being painted with the words “Save Ferris” for the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—is up in the air. 

 “The structure is up. Some water main and electrical work remain. Also, it needs to be painted,” said Ken Gardner, the Northbrook 's utilities superintendent. 

“We expect it to be operational by October. Our plan is to gradually raise the level—and thus the water main system pressures—over a period of three to four weeks to minimize any distribution system problems,” he added.

But why a second water tower for Northbrook?

Gardner explained it was needed to increase water pressure throughout the village, especially for homes and businesses in the northwestern part of town and other areas that are at higher elevations. He notes those areas generally have lower water pressures—typically under 40 pounds per square inch—than the rest of Northbrook. 

The water container will have twice the capacity of Northbrook’s current storage tank. Though it is about the same height, the new tower will produce greater pressure because it is located on ground about 30 feet higher than the one at the center of town.

According to Gardner, the cost of the tower’s construction and related water main work is $2.6 million. Money will come from the village’s water fund, which collects revenue through water sales, he explained.

The tower is being constructed by Chicago Bridge and Iron, the same company that built the current tower in 1954. Rumor has it that tank had a few seconds of fame in the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, when the film crew painted it with the words, “SAVE FERRIS.”

“It is true. That is the Northbrook water tower,” confirmed Paul Risinger, general operations superintendent for the Public Works Department. 

Beyond its claim to fame, Gardner said the future of the old water tower is up for debate.

“We’re still reviewing the role and fate of the older tower," Gardner said. "Because its overflow level will be below the normal operating range of the new tower, it will no longer be needed to keep pressure constant and to counteract system disturbances, such as opening and closing hydrants, pump changes, etc.

"It still has some value as storage, although we will have to implement methods to keep water circulating to avoid loss of chlorine levels and to keep it from freezing in the winter," he said, noting that several companies rent space atop the site for cell phone antennas.

"Mostly likely, its fate will be determined when it comes time to repaint it, which is an expensive process,” he added.