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HCWA Awards GA Model Water Tower Competition Winners

EconomicCommunityEducation

After producing the statewide winner of the Georgia Model Water Tower Competition last year, the Henry County Water Authority (HCWA) welcomed another group of students vying for the top tower during a regional competition held Friday (Nov. 14) at the Tussahaw Water Plant.
The winners of the 2025 Henry County, Georgia Model Water Tower Competition are:

  • 1st place – The “Popcorn Tower” of Matias Granadino, Ayden Destra, Oliver Collins, and Lucas Stinchcomb from Ola Middle School; Christopher Vernon, Teacher.
  • 2nd place – The “Jack-O-Lantern” Tower of Noah Peterson from Hampton Middle School; Koji Lewis, Teacher.
  • 3rd place – The “Twiggy Piggy” Tower of Blake Begley, Brigham Begley, Carter Zeisig, and Liam Leon, from Ola Middle School; Christopher Vernon, Teacher.
  • Most Artistic Design – The “Cupcake” Tower of Arixmar Rivera Diaz from Eagle’s Landing Middle School; Chandra Houston, Teacher.
  • Best Engineering Design – The “Raine-Cassidy” Tower of Raine Bowe and Cassidy Bostick from Dutchtown Middle School; H. Vyas, Teacher.
  • Best Interview/Presentation – The “Falcons Flow” Tower of Triston Smith and Matthew Brown from McDonough Middle School; Navitha Boda, Teacher.
Prior to this Henry County, Georgia Model Water Tower Competition, students from nine Henry County Schools built water towers, with the top towers from each school advancing to this regional competition held at the Tussahaw Plant. The first and second place towers from Henry County now advance to the statewide Georgia Model Water Tower Competition to be held at The Water Tower – a non-profit innovation hub in Buford, Georgia – this spring.

This year’s participating schools from Henry County included Austin Road, Dutchtown, Eagle’s Landing, Hampton, Impact Academy, McDonough, Ola, Stockbridge, and Woodland Middle Schools.
Participants in Georgia Model Water Tower Competition learned there are three main components to a water tower – an elevated tank, a riser pipe, and a structure to elevate the tank. They were challenged to design and build model water towers with specific size and height requirements from various household materials, while being rewarded for artistic and creative design.
 
“This is a good opportunity for my students to show their brilliance,” says James Crawford, III, whose students from Stockbridge Middle School participated in this year’s competition. “Some struggled keeping it together on the way to the event, having to make some quick fixes to stay in the competition. But it was a good test of their perseverance.”

The student model water towers were judged based on three criteria – structural efficiency, hydraulic efficiency, and design ingenuity. In addition, contestants completed a presentation and interview about their respective water tower in front of a panel of water professionals, where they answered questions about the design and construction process, as well as the critical role water towers play within a community’s water system.

Thus, the Georgia Model Water Tower Competition requires students to develop an idea into a functioning water tower, just as water professionals, such as those at the HCWA, do for residents and businesses in their communities. The competition provides an opportunity for students to apply STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills they’ve learned in school. Teachers see the Model Water Tower Competition as an ideal hands-on, experiential learning experience as well.

“This event gets my students engaged in STEM curricula, and I like how laser-focused they’ve been during this process,” says Christopher Vernon, Ola Middle School teacher whose students won first and third place in this year’s Henry County Competition. Vernon’s students are enjoying his class in Instructional Focus with a Science Concentration. “You can’t get more hands-on than this,” he says.

The HCWA hosts the annual Henry County, Georgia Model Water Tower Competition in partnership with Henry County Schools, the Georgia Section of the American Water Works Association (GAWWA), and the Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP), with assistance coming this year from event sponsors Brown and Caldwell, Falcon Design Consultants, and Consolidated Pipe & Supply.



Winners of the 2025 Henry County, Georgia Model Water Tower Competition include (left to right): Second Place, Noah Peterson; First Place, Ayden Destra, Oliver Collins, Lucas Stinchcomb, and Matia Granadino; Third Place Brigham Begley, Blake Begley, and Carter Zeisig, not pictured Liam Leon.








Students participating in the Georgia Model Water Tower Competition go through Hydraulic Testing of their water towers.











The HCWA’s Brook Jackson reviews dimensions and conducts hydraulic testing on the “Falcons Flow” water tower during the Henry County, Georgia Model Water Tower Competition.

















The HCWA’s Patrick Kelley, P.E., shares his professional engineering expertise with students during the Henry County, Georgia Model Water Tower Competition.














 


Students complete interviews with (left to right) Josh Fuente, Brown & Caldwell, Doug Clark, Consolidated Pipe & Supply Company, and Tyler Price, Falcon Design, during the Henry County, Georgia Model Water Tower Competition held at the HCWA Tussahaw Water Plant.








Students from nine middle schools in Henry County participated in this year’s Georgia Model Water Tower Competition at the HCWA Tussahaw Water Treatment Plant.
 

HCWA Awards GA Model Water Tower Competition Winners