The Plan - Won't See

Despite what some people say, the tanks will not be visible from the Great Falls park area. Of the 3,700 buildings within one-half mile of the reservoir, the tanks will be visible to just 12 houses. And, most of those houses are located one-half mile away, up on Boulder Road.

The simple fact is: the tanks can't be seen from the surrounding area because the reservoir sits 180 feet above the Great Falls and is encircled by large trees. Moreover, the tanks will rise just 28 feet above the current ground level or less than half as tall as the large evergreen trees that already encircle the reservoir property.

The view from within the reservoir

The tanks will be built at the northern end of the existing reservoir. Placing them there will make them less visible to traffic on Grand Street and from the houses on Reservoir Street.

We erected large orange balloons to compare the height of the tanks to the height of the trees that line the perimeter of the reservoir.


As can be seen in the photo above, the top of the tanks will be lower than the existing trees.

The View From the Community

We raised balloons to a height of 28 feet to simulate the tank height. Then, flew drones with video cameras from 11 different locations to see if the tanks would be visible.
The map shows the locations where aerial footage was captured. In each case, the drone was elevated to a height equal to the tallest structure in the area then continued to elevate until the orange balloons became visible. Of all the sites visited, the tanks will be visible from just one location, Boulder Run on Garrett Mountain. The photo below shows how that view may appear.

The View From the Historic District

The tanks will not be visible to people inside the national park. To see the tanks from the Great Falls National Historical Park site, for example, you would have to look up 105 feet, then over the tall trees that border the reservoir, then down to the tanks.

The tanks may be visible from three locations: looking through the fence at the entrance gate to the reservoir; looking through the fence along the rear parking lot at the Costello pool; and possibly from a few of the houses along Reservoir Street directly adjacent to the reservoir site.

See for yourself…Select a location below to see the view from a specific location.

List of Locations

  • Pennington Park behind baseball field
  • JF Kennedy High School parking lot
  • Maple Street at Mary Kramer park
  • Great Falls National Park parking lot
  • Spruce & Market Streets at Paterson Museum
  • Oliver Street at NJ-19 near Passaic County Jail
  • Marshall Street adjacent to I-80 overpass
  • Park Road in Garrett Mountain Reservation
  • Boulder Run condominiums
  • Danforth Avenue at Ramsey Street
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