UPGRADING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
Several water and wastewater projects are set to begin design and construction by the end of 2024.
Water engineering
Water construction
Wastewater engineering Wastewater construction
Project timeline
2nd Quarter 2023
3rd Quarter 2023
4th Quarter 2023
1st Quarter 2024
2nd Quarter 2024
3rd Quarter 2024
4th Quarter 2024
KEY PROJECTS:
Elevated Storage Tank No. 6 design: $8.08M (includes construction)
1 North Town Center water line $22.04M: The design phase will lay out the line around North Town Center for replacement of the existing water line. 2 Panther Creek water line $28.8M: Also moving into design phase, the project will identify the best routes and methods for replacing the aging $47.16M: This project will look at the viability of installing gravity lines and route stations to make wastewater transport more e cient within The Woodlands. 4 New wastewater treatment facility plan and design $226.17M: The rst phase of the main lines in Panther Creek. 3 Conveyance optimization study and design design process will involve procuring any additional area for the facility and creating the o cial design. The project will then likely be split into phases for construction.
AC Waterline program management: Cost TBD
1
North Town Center water line: $22.04M
2
Panther Creek water line: $28.8M
Harper’s Landing water line: $428,000
Grogan’s Mill pump revitalization: $80,000
Water plants 2 and 3 generator replacement: $2M Elevated Storage Tank No. 6 build
Town Center water line: $10.9M
3
Conveyance optimization study and design: $47.16M
Lift Station 1 gravity line and abandonment: $1M
4
New wastewater treatment facility plan and design: $226.17M
Hughes Landing gravity sewer rehabilitation: $7.66M
Wastewater Facility No. 2 storage building: $410,000
Wastewater Facility No. 2 tertiary lter replacement: $5.2M
Southshore gravity mainline rehabilitation: $9.53M
SOURCE: SAN JACINTO RIVER AUTHORITY COMMUNITY IMPACT
Agency serves as the central management agency for 10 municipal utility districts in The Woodlands. However, SJRA o cials said residents can expect to see higher sewer and water fees in future years as a result of the plan as the SJRA will likely seek reve- nue bonds for the projects. New wastewater treatment facility One of the biggest projects in the SJRA’s new 10-year capital project plan is replacement of The Woodlands Wastewater Treatment Facility No. 1 on Sawdust Road, which turns 50 this year. SJRA o - cials said the treatment facility project must be com- pleted in the next 10 years to continue supporting community needs. The current overall water and wastewater infrastructure has reached end of life in a number of areas in The Woodlands according to the SJRA, which means numerous projects will be needed in the next 10 years. Erich Peterson, general manager for The Wood- lands Water Agency, said the wastewater project was approved to move into Phase 2 at the agency’s March 8 meeting. The SJRA is evaluating the replacement of the wastewater treatment facility, and construction is expected to begin in 2027, Peterson said. During Phase 1 of the project, the SJRA looked at alternatives such as consolidating the wastewater treatment plants on Research Forest Drive and in Harper’s Landing. The plan fell through after stud- ies showed the Research Forest plant only has 20-25 years left in its service lifespan, said Daniel Hilder- brandt, technical services manager for SJRA.
Since the lifespan of wastewater treatment facili- ties is roughly 50 years, the Sawdust plant is at the end of its life Hilderbrandt said the SJRA determined it would be more e cient to construct a new facility. “We don’t exactly know what that design contract would be looking like or how many packages it may potentially be,” Hilderbrandt said. As part of the wastewater improvements, the SJRA is also looking at installing gravity lines, which are sewer lines installed at an angle in the ground that use gravity to move wastewater to the nearest treatment facility. This could allow some lift stations to be shut down and abandoned in favor of gravity lines. Lift stations are needed to push sewer from areas of low elevation to high. The proposed 10-year plan includes studies in lift station abandonment at Lift Station No. 1 on Woodlands Parkway. The wastewater treatment facility will be funded through revenue bonds, but those will not be put up for public vote, Peterson said. “The debt service on these bonds will be sup- ported through revenue collected on the MUD retail water and sewer bills. This would be passed on to the customer most likely as an infrastructure renewal fee,” Peterson said in an email interview. There is no current estimate on what those fee increases could look like. Meeting water needs In addition to wastewater improvements, the township will require several main water pipeline renovations and dam upgrades, SJRA o cials said. The Bear Branch dam o Kuykendahl Road needs
WHAT IS A GRAVITY LINE? Gravity sewer lines are meant to be a more e cient method of directing wastewater to a treatment facility by using a graded slope in the pipeline to push wastewater from residential and commercial areas into mainlines.
Sewer main
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day of raw water to an industry on the east side of Houston,” said Connie Curtis, director of technical and operational services for the SJRA at the April 26 open house. “We’ve got 27 miles of canals that we actually manage and maintain. Some of that was from World War II, so we’re having to deal with infra- structure from the '40s on the east side of town.” With several upcoming projects in The Wood- lands area, the township and Woodlands Water Agency will play a role in messaging and prevent- ing interruptions of service. The Woodlands Water
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