TWDB approves $37M for Pharr water, wastewater infrastructure
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) approved $37.71 million to assist the city of Pharr in financing water and wastewater system improvements.
Pharr will use more than $19.83 million from TWDB’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund to install approximately 13,500 linear feet of gravity sewer lines and force mains and decommission three lift stations and a force main that have reached the end of their useful lives.
It also will construct a new, larger main lift station, and make necessary upgrades to its wastewater treatment plant.
The city is scheduled to complete its planning phase in December and begin the design phase in February 2021. Construction will commence in June 2021, and completion is set for September 2022.
The city will use $17.88 million provided by the state’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to make upgrades to its water treatment plant (WTP) to improve performance, expand the raw water reservoir’s storage capacity, and install a dedicated transmission main to the Eldora elevated storage tank.
The WTP project consists of upgrades and improvements at the city’s water treatment plant to address deficiencies and improve its performance and reliability, expansion of the raw water reservoir, and installation of a dedicated transmission main directly to the Eldora elevated storage tank from the plant for improved operation.
WTP improvements will include upgrading the electrical system, modifying the sludge handling system to incorporate dewatering, installing baffle plates in the rapid mix basin, expanding the backwash pump station, and installing a larger filter-to-waste line.
Completion of the project’s engineering feasibility study is scheduled for March 2021, and the design phase will begin in August 2021. Construction start is set for December 2021 to conclude in January 2023.