Known as the Lilac Capital of the World, the Village of Lombard is a 30-minute drive from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport in DuPage County. “It was only natural for my predecessors in 1967 to want their new 1.0 MMG water tank to look like a towering lilac that could be seen for miles,” says Village of Lombard Utilities Superintendent Angela Podesta.

In early 2002, Podesta contacted Tnemec coating consultant Erik Otten. Her lilac tank had not seen a new coat of paint since 1988 and she knew that the interior of the tank needed repainting as well. Otten recommended three coats of Series 20 Pota-Pox, a polyamide epoxy, in alternating colors to be spray applied on the interior wet area of the tank. For the tank’s interior dry area, two coats of Series 20 were to be spray applied.

For the tank’s exterior coating system, Otten recommended a prime coat of Series 66 Hi-Build Epoxoline, a polyamide epoxy, to be applied by roller over the entire tank exterior. For the intermediate coat, Series 66 Hi-Build Epoxoline would give the exterior system additional film thickness for corrosion resistance and was also roller-applied over the entire exterior. For the finish coat, Series 1075 Endura-Shield II, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane, was to be applied in two different colors. White was roller applied on the cone and riser of the tank as well as the white band on the ball of the tank.

A special color formulated by Tnemec’s color lab was then roller applied to the roof and belly of the tank. This color was formulated to be similar to the lilac color of the additional finish coat of Series 700 HydroFlon, but with enough of a contrast so the applicator could easily see where he had applied the coating. Series 700 in “Lombard Lilac” was then roller applied over the Series 1075. Developed to withstand the damaging effects of UV over many years, Series 700 is a two-component fluoropolymer polyurethane exterior finish coat with long-term gloss and color retention.

“I love that coating system,” says Greg Bairaktaris, project manager for ERA Valdivia Contractors, Inc. “It’s superb for those who want to match and retain color.”