Plano Spends $7.7M to Upgrade Parker Road Water Tower, Remove PFAS Coatings

The coating inside the Parker Road elevated water storage tank did its job for roughly two decades. It also contained PFAS.

Plano authorized a $7.7 million rehabilitation of the tower, located near Parker Road and Premier Drive in the city's northwest corridor, to strip that coating and replace it with a PFAS-free formulation designed to outlast its predecessor. Drew Zaeske, Plano's public works community investment program manager, handled the technical specifications behind the coating change. Construction began in December 2025 and is scheduled to wrap up in fall 2026, with funding drawn entirely from Plano's Water and Sewer Fund.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are synthetic chemicals used in industrial applications for decades, including in some protective coatings. The rehabilitation targets a potential rather than a confirmed risk: aging PFAS-containing coatings can degrade over time, creating a pathway for those chemicals to reach the water supply. The older formulations Plano used were rated to last 15 to 20 years. The replacement coating is designed to push that interval to 20 to 30 years before another major overhaul is required.

The scope extends beyond the coating itself. Crews are upgrading valves and safety equipment, making structural and access improvements, and adding site enhancements connected to water-quality monitoring.

For the neighborhoods around Parker Road and Premier Drive, the tank underpins daily water pressure and holds the emergency reserves Plano Fire-Rescue draws on during structure fires. A degraded or offline tower strains both functions at the same time.

City officials described the $7.7 million as preventive maintenance, noting that deferred structural repairs carry a higher eventual cost. No dedicated rate adjustment is connected to this project in the current capital plan.

Parker Road has absorbed years of growth-related infrastructure work, from waterline replacements to pavement reconstruction. This rehabilitation is the latest layer. When the crew finishes in fall 2026, the city's next scheduled tower overhaul shifts to the structure near Jupiter Drive and Spring Creek Parkway.