Sitzmann Retires From City Water Department

Gayle Sitzmann stands next to a city water pump.  Sitzmann will retire from the Le Mars Water Department Friday, July 21st.

(Le Mars) — For nearly 30 years, every time you turned on a faucet to get water for cooking, bathing, washing, or just for a refreshing drink to remain hydrated, one man was responsible for that water to be accessible, dependable, clear, clean, and free of harmful bacteria. Gayle Sitzmann has served as the
superintendent for the Le Mars Water Department for the last 12 years. Today is Sitzmann’s last day with the city’s water department as he will begin his retirement. Sitzmann says he was hired shortly after the city took over the supervision of the municipal water needs. Sitzmann says as the city was growing, obviously the water department needed to grow with the city.

Sitzmann says the city of Le Mars has several water mains that are showing their age, and consequently, they are rupturing causing water main breaks. The water department superintendent says there have been four water main breaks since May.
Sitzmann says the city has been installing new pipeline to accommodate Iowa DNR regulations. He says the old water mains were four inches in diameter. But today, water mains need to be at least six inches in diameter. Sitzmann says
when he started with the city water department, Le Mars had the capacity to store 300,000 gallons of water. Today, with the new water towers, Sitzmann says that storage capacity exceeds three and a half million gallons of water.

Sitzmann says while the city was expanding its water storage capacity, it was also updating its pumping capacity.

Sitzmann says Le Mars gets its water through a series of wells that have tapped into the Dakota Aquifer. He says we are fortunate to have clear and clean water of good quality.

The city water official says some of Le Mars water wells are capable of pumping up to 1300 gallons a minute. He says on average the city’s industrial base uses approximately 40 percent of the city’s water, and the residential and small business district uses approximately 60 percent of our water. Sitzmann says he
will miss the daily routine after retirement, as well as responding to people’s needs. However, he admits he will not miss the 2:00 in the morning telephone calls indicating a water main has burst. He says he looks forward to traveling, and he will continue to assist with his wife’s greenhouse business during his retirement.