City staff updated the council on planning for a new Hilltop water treatment plant and said the work will likely stretch over several years while the city completes tracer studies and secures a remaining easement for the proposed reverse-osmosis (RO) site.
The presentation, delivered by city staff member Howard Huffman, outlined treatment technologies under consideration — including microfiltration, RO and high-rate sludge-blanket clarifiers — and a schedule of operator site visits to peer plants in Conroe, Abilene, Cisco and Albany.
Why it matters: The Hilltop project will set the city’s future drinking-water treatment approach. Staff said the decision will affect electricity and chemical costs, capital layout and long-term operations and will be informed by tracer studies and regulatory discussions with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Huffman told the council that RO is technically feasible but more energy-intensive than membrane microfiltration. He said the project team is finishing a tracer study for Hilltop and is still “trying to make a point with TCEQ about the capacity of our plant,” and added that a new treatment plant is “still several years out.”
Staff described planned peer visits to give operators a chance to ask city staff and operators about real-world electric and chemical costs. Huffman listed team members working on the project: Corey Shockley, Ashley Giesem (PE, HDR Des Moines office), Dr. Samuel Robfure and Dr. Sophie de Respiano, plus Scott McKinnon, David Morgan and Matt Henry.
On the RO site specifically, Huffman said negotiations with the final private landowner have progressed but that the landowner engaged counsel, and the parties have been discussing the terms of an easement. He said the district already has easements from the county and two other landowners, and “as soon as this landowner, we get this easement agreed, Doctor Sam does have this project ready to go out to bid.”
Huffman said the city expects to move quickly once the easement is secured and that existing funds in the bank will cover the immediate work for pipelines and preliminary infrastructure for larger blending pumps, noting “no debt taken on to handle that project” for the initial work.
Council members asked about who will manage the project once construction invoices come due; Huffman said that will be resolved after the Texas Water Development Board approves moving forward (he referenced an October meeting) and that the budget includes hiring an assistant public works director who would help manage capital projects.
The presentation also emphasized due diligence steps: site visits planned for late August and September, ongoing technical evaluation of treatment technologies, and conversations with peer operators about operational costs and implementation details. Huffman said staff will bring a recommendation to the council when they have completed those steps so the council can make an informed decision.