Monmouth Aldermen this week approved a pair of water infrastructure repair projects. Last month, the city council was made aware of a water tower that had sprung a leak. This month, they approved a proposal to repair the leak for around $65,000. The plan was to drain the tower before work was done but Public Works Director Andy Jackson says that would cause water main breaks and cause damage to the high service pumps due to back pressure. City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher tells WGIL that a diver must apply a seal inside the tank before a weld can be made to the outside. "They have some sort of a rubber seal that they place over the crack – the leak. And then, it's sealed and the water pressure keeps that seal in place." It was originally believed to only cost the city about $10,000, but with the diver needing to apply the seal inside the tank now, it is estimated to cost over six times more. Aldermen on Monday also approved emergency work for a water softener for the city's North Water Treatment Plant that failed just before it was supposed to be refurbished. The city had two water softeners fail previously resulting in a 240-thousand dollar expense to get them refurbished and the other two softeners were expected to be refurbished in the new fiscal year. The emergency work will be done by the same company that refurbished the two that were done already. "This was the only contractor that responded to our requests for proposals. So, we're moving with that as an emergency expense because we can't afford to shut down our water distribution system." Steinbrecher says the city has the money to cover the costs of the refurbishment in the capital reserve fund.