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The city of Bastrop will spend $122,934 to minimize the amount of lead and copper that enters the public water supply.
Bastrop City Council approved the purchase with Minnesota-based Hawkins Inc. for orthophosphates—a chemical used in public water supplies to prevent the corrosion of pipes and plumbing—during a March 10 meeting.
It will be financed through the city’s Water Treatment Chemicals Budget, according to city documents.
What we know
In 2023, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality required the use of orthophosphates in the water treatment process after the Bastrop Water and Wastewater Department completed a corrosion control treatment study on the city’s alluvial wells and found the need for more preventative measures, according to city documents.
In the study, the city used Napco 206—a type of orthophosphate, according to city documents.
“Since the city has started utilizing the Simsboro aquifer wells, Napco 206 has proved to be less effective when combined with different water chemistry, requiring higher dosage rates than previously,” Bastrop Director of Water and Wastewater Curtis Hancock said in a staff report.
Hawkins Inc. is the sole distributor of Napco 206, according to city documents.
The outlook
TCEQ is requiring the city to continue using orthophosphates as a corrosion inhibitor until a new corrosion control treatment study can be approved and completed for the Simsboro aquifer wells, according to city documents.
