City launches ‘pilot’ for new water plant
The city of Granbury yesterday officially kicked off its Water Treatment Pilot Plant. Local residents may not find it all that exciting, but city officials are pretty happy about it.
The “pilot plant,” located at the city’s current water plant at 1402 E. Pearl St., is an important step in the city’s plans to eventually have a water plant with extra filtration systems that will produce 7.5 million gallons of quality water per day.
The pilot plant is a “miniature version of what we’re going to have,” said Public Works Director Alva Cox.
He said that data from the pilot plant must be submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The governmental agency will give the green light on the rest of the project after monitoring the readings from the pilot plant.
The completed plant is expected to cost between $14.5 million and $17 million, Cox said, with the biggest costs at the front end.
“When we go to Phase II, it will cost probably less than a third of the cost (of Phase I) because the piping is already set up,” he stated. “It’s almost like you just plug it in.”
Each phase of the project will depend on demand, said Cox. The third phase may not be operational until 2025 or later.
“The city of Granbury is a regional water supplier, so it’s important to be able to provide for the next 50, 60 years, at least,” said council member Mickey Parson.
Parson is among several city and county officials who are working with the Brazos River Authority (BRA) and the TCEQ to get more water rights for Lake Granbury.
City officials are moving forward with the water plant because, in 2017, the city will have to transfer to the Acton Municipal Utility District (AMUD) the final third of its rights to the BRA’s Surface Water and Treatment System on Lake Granbury. The city and AMUD entered into the agreement in 2009.
The city’s water comes from its water plant, which uses water from Lake Granbury, and ground water wells. In 2011, there were 25 ground water wells utilized by the city, but there are plans for 10 more.
Cox said that construction of four wells is under way now and one has been approved by the City Council, but has not yet been started. He said he hopes to have all 10 wells operational by summer.
Parson said the new water treatment plant “is going to give us a water supply for a long time.”
“It will give us an alternative to ground water when it becomes more and more costly and harder to get,” he said.
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