League City will expand its Southwest Water Reclamation Facility to increase the plant's capacity to treat an additional two million gallons per day, a project that could cost the city at least $86 million.
The facility was built in 2012 and serves the southwest area of League City.
The framework
Currently the plant treats four million gallons per day, but to meet projected demand created by new development, especially in the areas west of I-45, city planners have deemed it necessary to increase the plant’s capacity to six million gallons per day, according to city documents.
League City’s current population nears 118,000, according to recent U.S. Census data, but the city’s population is expected to grow, and the city is only 40% built out, according to previous reporting by Community Impact.
Diving in deeper
League City City Council voted unanimously to award combined contracts totaling $86 million to Fort Worth-based consulting firm Freese and Nichols and Houston-based CSA Construction for the project at its Oct. 27 meeting.
In part, the upgrades will allow the treatment plant to take in some of the flow from the larger Dallas Salmon Wastewater Treatment on the city’s east side, city staff said.
According to city documents, some of the upgrades will include:
New aeration basin
New lift station
New UV channel
Electrical upgrades
Control system upgrades
The upgrades will eventually allow the city to expand the water plant’s capacity to treat 12 million gallons per day, City Manager John Baumgartner said at the meeting.
Quote of note
“It’s probably the most expensive [capital improvement project] we’ve ever done in League City,” Baumgartner said.
Baumgartner added that the majority of the project would be paid for with capital recovery fees.
