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City gets update on water and wastewater projects; council approves $50,000 pilot lease for water-treatment testing
Summary
Consultants from Kimley Horn updated council on a proposed north-side wastewater plant, gravity mains alignment studies and a water-plant expansion (targeting up to 9 MGD); council approved a four-month Area Filtra pilot lease for $50,000 to run at the city's water-treatment facility and deferred a second Westech lease pending missing lease terms.
Kimley Horn consultants briefed the City Council on the status of its water and wastewater capital projects and sought approval for a pilot testing lease to support membrane treatment evaluation.
Andrew Simonson (Kimley Horn) summarized wastewater work: conceptual site layout for a new north-side wastewater plant, environmental and site studies (archaeological, Phase I environmental, flood-plain, aquatic delineation), alignment studies for gravity mains, initiation of appraisals and the need to submit a discharge permit to the state once property acquisition is complete. He noted permitting could be the schedule-limiting step because of TCEQ review backlogs and that construction windows are expected to be on the order of 24'to'30 months.
Chris Balow (Kimley Horn) presented the water-plant expansion plan, describing an expansion trajectory toward 9 million gallons per day (MGD) total capacity (current 3 MGD plus 3 MGD expansion) and the use of membrane treatment. He explained a pilot protocol was submitted to the state and that the pilot will run for about 100 days once started; the pilot is a condition for membrane selection and equipment finalization.
On a related agenda item, staff presented two proposed leases for pilot testing equipment. The council approved a four-month Area Filtra lease for $50,000 to pilot filtration at the water treatment facility and deferred a proposed Westech lease until missing lease information is provided to staff. Staff explained both leases are part of the larger capital plan, but combined would exceed the city's $100,000 single-department spending threshold, so they split the items for transparency.
Staff and consultants said next steps will include easement acquisitions for gravity lines, finalizing equipment selection after the pilot, initiating 60% design following pilot results, and continuing permitting and property-acquisition tasks.
