A 24 million-gallon-per-day capacity wastewater treatment facility in the city of Pflugerville that has been 10 years in the making will start construction in 2022.
The Wilbarger Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility will be located on 159 acres of city owned property at 10100 Gregg Lane east of Fuchs Grove Road and west of FM 973.
During a public hearing May 19, Pflugerville city engineer Patricia Davis said the project was identified as a critical capital improvement project in the city’s 2020 wastewater master plan. The project has received the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Tracy Michel, environmental scientist at engineering firm Garver, said monthly residential wastewater service rates will gradually increase to no more than $28 through fiscal year 2024-25. Property taxes are not a funding source for the project and tax rates will not be impacted, she said.
Garver Project Manager Greg Swoboda said the wastewater facility will be constructed in phases, with the majority of the project complete by 2024. The first phase includes construction of the facility to treat six million gallons of wastewater per day. The completed project will allow for the treatment capacity of 24 million gallons per day.
Michel said the facility will include typical wastewater treatment structures including primary clarifiers, aeration basins, dewatering and disinfection. Primary clarifiers remove solids from wastewater, aeration basins promote microbial growth, dewatering removes liquids from wastewater sludge and disinfection kills microorganisms.
The facility will also include a detention pond with pipes extending to Wilbarger Creek. Michel said an outfall, or where a drain empties, will be constructed near the creek and a rock riprap—which protects against erosion—will be placed within a small portion of the creek.
A portion of the facility is located in the floodplain, but Michel said the design of the project is not in that portion and there will be no change to the base flood elevation.
Construction is expected to start winter of 2022 with completion projected for 2025.
Public comments or questions for the project should be submitted by May 28 at 5 p.m. Residents can submit comments via email at [email protected] or a written letter addressed to:
Ms. Patricia Davis, MSCE, P.E.
City Engineer
P.O. Box 589
Pflugerville, TX 78691
