TANK DIVERS

Dressed in a drysuit, Scott Rang submerged himself into the 40-degree water of the 60,000 gallon Floriston water tank Wednesday morning.

The tank needed to be cleaned in preparation for a new water treatment plant that wil be installed to chlorinate and filter Floristan’s water. Chlorine can become very toxic if it reacts with materials in the tank other than the water.

Hiring the divers means the Town of Floriston did not need to drain the tank to clean it, thus saving the water.

A group of divers from Liquivision Technology Inc. Underwater services out of Klamath Falls, Ore., worked as a team sending one diver into the tank with a vacuum and video camera strapped to his diving helmet while the others directed the diver from inside a van via radio. The diver will be under water for more than an hour before he can come to the surface — but that doesn’t bother diver Chad High.

“I love being in the water,” High said. “There’s no claustrophobia for me. Getting in and out is the difficult part.”