Upgrades to Texas water plant benefit nearby wetland

Major upgrades to an award-winning El Paso, Texas water treatment facility will not only expand its water capacity, but will also provide water to an adjacent wetland. The two-year, $16.2 million expansion will allow the Fred Hervey Water Reclamation Plant to process 12 million gallons of wastewater a day. Currently, it exports 6 million gallons of drinking water to the city of El Paso.

The upgrades came after the Texas Comission on Environmental Quality asked that the plant discharge a higher quality of water into the nearby wetland before the plant’s permit could be renewed. The wetland was created as part of a project that used evaporative lagoons to eradicate wastewater in Northeast El Paso. Approximately 2 percent of the plant’s cleaned water is discharged into the wetland.

The Fred Hervey Water Reclamation Plant has always met all state and federal regulations since it opened in 1985. Last summer the plant received the Platinum Peak Performace Award last summer from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies for five years of perfect compliance.

Read more at waterworld.com

Image credit: University of Texas at El Paso