The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) will distribute $139.6 million to advance water and wastewater system improvements across the state, following its February meeting.
The city of Austin will receive the largest allocation of $59 million to upgrade the Walnut Creek wastewater treatment plant. The project will replace primary pumps, rehabilitate basins, build a storage and feed facility and a 120-inch Parshall flume. In addition, the city will install new 30-million-gallon-per-day (mgd) tertiary filters and expand the existing non-potable water system with new pumps, site piping and a 500,000-gallon elevated storage tank.
As part of the project, Austin will decommission the existing raw wastewater pumping system, improve the site and install yard piping. The city’s expansion work will prioritize bringing the plant capacity up to 100 mgd, building 7,000 feet of flood wall, 1,600 feet of siphon pipes, a wet weather treatment unit and adding cloth disk and media filters alongside a new Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.
The city of Pearsall will spend $16.1 million to install bar screens, variable frequency drives and replace flowmeters and the SCADA system. The city will build two lift stations, 15,000 feet of 8-inch sewer lines, 1,000 feet of 4-inch main line, generators and manholes. In addition, the project calls for decommissioning septic tanks in a recently annexed area north of its service area after the residents are added to the collection system. Pearsall will also develop an asset management plan.
Roma will use its $15 million share to rehabilitate a 5.15-mgd water treatment plant, prioritizing the raw water pump station, pretreatment and media filter systems and high service pump station. The city will also build new chemical feed, clearwell, pumping facilities and a waste line to the collection system. Plans include upgrading instrumentation, controls and developing an asset management plan.
The city of Bonham will spend $14.4 million to replace 26,575 feet of water lines and 20 fire hydrants. Additional work will consist of adding 6,945 feet of 12- to 16-inch water lines, creating looping within the water system and improving overall water quality.
Cotulla will receive $9.9 million to improve the wastewater treatment plant by building a lift station, an influent pump station and a bar screen and grinder. The city will also build a bar screen control pane land five sludge drying beds. Additional work will consist of improvements to a secondary clarifier, rehabilitation of sex sludge drying beds and redirection of influent sewer lines to an upstream wet well.
The city of San Benito will receive $9.5 million to replace roughly 32,500 feet of 6- to 12-inch water distribution lines, 80 valves and 24 fire hydrants. The city will also install 12 fire hydrants and 10,500 feet of 8- to 12-inch water distribution lines to create looping in the system.
The city of Alamo will spend $9.3 million to rehabilitate the 5 mgd water treatment plan by upgrading the treatment components, automated controls, pumping system and electrical and mechanical components. The city will also replace chemical feed and ventilation equipment, install level sensors at elevated tanks and integrate all facilities into the SCADA system.
The South Plains Water Supply Corporation will use $3.3 million to build wellhead replacements, electrical upgrades and water meter replacements. Additional work will consist of replacing ground storage and pressure tanks, service pumps and improving the distribution system across four system sites.
The final $3 million allocated through the funding tranche will go toward the New Horizons Ranch and Center, Inc. The corporation will use the money to connect to the city of Goldthwaite water system, installing high-service pumps, 43,000 feet of 2- to 6-inch water distribution lines, upgrading pumps at the city’s pump station and installing additional membranes at the water treatment plant.
In addition, the corporation will replace 5,000 feet of water distribution lines, rehabilitate a 60,000-gallon ground storage tank, upgrade the electrical and chemical feed systems and make various electrical improvements. The project vision calls for decommissioning the corporations’ existing treatment plant and replacing the 1,000-gallon pressure tank.
Photo by Tim Sheerman-Chase, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, from Wikimedia Commons
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