Pearland’s water infrastructure received major funding from the city to make key improvements, which include ensuring Pearland complies with state regulators and various upgrades to existing water infrastructure.

What you need to know

Pearland City Council voted to award roughly $7.3 million in water infrastructure improvements at its July 14 meeting.

The projects cover a wide variety upgrades, including bringing several of Pearland’s water facilities up to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality standards. In 2023, TCEQ identified eight violations at Pearland water facilities for inadequate chemical containment and weather protection.

At the meeting, city officials approved a $207,000 contract to Houston-based Baxter & Woodman to make improvements, including:

• Adding new containment structures for polyphosphate tanks
• Converting chlorine gas disinfection to liquid bleach at the Country Place Water Plant
• Constructing protective enclosures and replacing outdated feed systems

The design portion of these upgrades will begin in July, and construction is expected to wrap up by November 2026, according to agenda documents.

What else?

City Council also approved awarding $555,000 to Houston-based Civitas Engineering Group to update Pearland’s water plan, which is the guiding document for the city’s water infrastructure and was last updated in 2019.

Pearland has more than tripled in population since 2020 and now has the capacity to pump 44 million gallons per day, with 10 million gallons in capacity added when the city opened its new Surface Water Treatment Plant in October 2024, Community Impact previously reported.

The plan will update water demand projections, identify additional water supply alternatives and guide where city funds should go to improve and maintain the city’s water infrastructure, City Manager Trent Epperson said.

“While an expenditure to plan, it is part of much larger expenditures to ensure we spend those dollars wisely and we spend those dollars in the right place,” Epperson said.

One more thing

The biggest contract awarded at the meeting was a $6.3 million contract to Houston-based Tellespsen Builders for upgrades at two water plants, including

• $4.4 million for a hardened, storm-resilient water operations building at Alice St. Water Plant
• $1.9 million for the rehabilitation of aging infrastructure at the McLean Water Production Facility

The construction is expected to be completed by August 2026, according to agenda documents.

In other news

City Council also awarded $246,000 to distributor Ferguson Waterworks to purchase waterline repair improvements, such as valves and fittings for city construction crews.