Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public Works outlines East Water Plant financing, meter replacements and water‑loss targets
Summary
Public Works described secured low‑cost financing, potential WIFIA loans, a target to rehabilitate 3% of drinking‑water pipeline annually and a multi‑year meter replacement program tied to reducing a large annual water loss.
Houston Public Works detailed financing and operational steps aimed at stabilizing the city's water system, including low‑cost loans secured through the Texas Water Development Board for the East Water Purification Plant and plans to pursue WIFIA financing, while setting annual targets to rehabilitate pipe and replace meters.
Randy Mackey, Director of Public Works, said the department secured “approximately $1,000,000,000 in low cost financing” from the Texas Water Development Board for the East Water Purification Plant, which the department estimates will translate into roughly $250,000,000 in interest savings over the life of the project. Mackey added the department is “potentially” pursuing up to $2,000,000,000 in WIFIA financing.
The department also previewed a target of rehabilitating 3% of the drinking‑water distribution system annually, which equates to roughly 216 miles given a system length cited in the presentation, and to inspecting 10% of wastewater lines annually under the city's consent decree. Mackey said a realistic near‑term estimate might be closer to 1% in the first year but that the goal is a sustained 3% replacement rate for a mature utility.
Sameer Salanki, HPW CFO, said the combined utility system operating fund (Fund 8300 and related funds) reflects rate adjustments consistent with the cost‑of‑service study adopted in ordinance 2021515. Salanki also described a refinancing effort that yielded present‑value savings of about $53,000,000.
On meter replacements and billing, the department reported progress on the water bill improvement plan: roughly 26,000 remote read devices were targeted, and the department has reduced the number of accounts on estimated or “set usage” billing from earlier highs to about 14,000 accounts remaining; about 7,000 are harder cases requiring owner coordination. Mackey said the city plans a programmatic meter replacement of about 25,000 meters per year to avoid future meter‑reading and estimation problems.
Mackey also cited a modeled citywide water loss of roughly 32 billion gallons per year and said department analysis indicates about two‑thirds of that loss may be concentrated in about 6% of the pipe by length, which informs prioritization for pipeline replacements.
The presentation acknowledged slide typos in performance figures for waterline repair response and committed to providing corrected data to council members.
Mackey: “If we can cut down by two thirds, by replacing 6% of the pipe, think about what that does for the strain on the system as a whole.”
