Located in Brevard County, 50 miles east of Orlando on Florida’s east coast, the City of Cocoa is recognized because of its proximity to the John F. Kennedy Space Center, NASA Visitors Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. In fact, the Cocoa water tank was built in 1957 to supply drinking water to NASA’s (then) fledgling space program.
According to Deputy Utilities Director Everett (Ed) J. Wegerif, the 1.5MMG elevated water tank was built by Chicago Bridge & Iron Company in 1957, and was painted with an old fashioned silver alkyd coating. In 1976, the City accepted the design and services of a grateful Greek immigrant resident to paint a huge American flag on the tank. The City contributed the flag paint.
By 1991, the Cocoa tank was in need of total renovation, so the tank was sandblasted down to bare metal inside and out to get rid of the rust and corrosion caused by the salty, coastal environment. Tnemec coatings consultant Mike Kendig was called in and specified a coating system. By popular demand, the Greek artist’s flag design was replicated, only this time Cocoa citizens wanted to see three of the colorful flags, so three large flags were painted and finish coated with Series 76 Endura-Clear, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane clearcoat.
In 2003, the City, and their consultant Corrpro, Inc., called Kendig back. He recommended a coatings system for repainting the tank and flags. For the tank’s support structure, Kendig specified two coats of Series 135 Chembuild, a modified polyamidoamine epoxy, and a topcoat of Series 30 Spra-Saf EN, a hydrophobic acrylic polymer, in tank white to be spray applied on the columns. For the tank itself, he designated the same two coats of Series 135 Chembuild with a topcoat of Series 73 Endura-Shield, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane. For the flags, he specified Series 1074 Endura-Shield II, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane with Series 44-600 Tnemec UV Blocker in the colors of Old Glory Red and Old Glory Blue.
“I have a great respect for Tnemec and the manner in which they stand by their coating systems,” Wegerif says. “In a patriotic salute, Tnemec donated the Old Glory Red and Blue paint to our Cocoa tank. Living so close to the Space Center, our residents loved this 100 percent American, flag-waving gesture.”