ABOUT THE PROJECT

Area water providers have partnered to finance a major expansion of the Northeast Water Purification Plant.  The expansion will more than triple the plant’s output of fresh drinking water and help meet the mandate to reduce our area’s dependence on groundwater.

While this project is complex, its footprint will not extend beyond property already owned by the City of Houston at the Northeast Water Purification Plant and Lake Houston.  Construction began in 2018 using a progressive design-build approach and will be completely online in 2025.

PROJECT TIMELINE

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A PARTNERSHIP

Increasing the output of freshwater by 320 million gallons per day is expensive; the cost of this project is $1.765 billion.  That is why five water providers – the North Harris County Regional Water Authority (NHCRWA), the West Harris County Regional Water Authority (WHCRWA), the Central Harris County Regional Water Authority (CHCRWA), the North Fort Bend Water Authority (NFBWA) and the City of Houston – have joined together to share the cost of this expansion project.

PROJECT BENEFITS

The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District says that land subsidence is caused by the withdrawal of groundwater. Subsidence is the cause of much of our flooding problems. For that reason, regulations have been put in place to limit the use of groundwater. By 2025, surface water must supply at least 60 percent of our water, and 80 percent by 2035.

The Northeast Water Purification Plant expansion is a pivotal part of this conversion from groundwater to surface water. This plant treats Lake Houston water and turns it into drinking water for parts of Harris and Fort Bend counties and surrounding areas. The additional demand for surface water will be offset by the Luce Bayou Interbasin Transfer Project drawing water from the Trinity River and transferring it into Lake Houston. This network of surface water transfers allows the additional demands for water to be met without the use of groundwater.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

The Northeast Water Purification Plant expansion will include conventional treatment processes like the existing plant that help coagulate, settle, filter, and then disinfect the water to a quality that exceeds requirements set forth by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. In addition, an advanced oxidation process called ozonation will be constructed. Ozonation is a very powerful process for disinfecting water to help ensure that harmful organisms such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium are eliminated. Ozonation also helps eliminate taste and odor causing compounds, which improves the aesthetic quality of the water supplied by the plant.