Horseshoe Bay plans on plant expansion

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

Horseshoe Bay officials are in the design and planning stages of a proposed $4 million expansion of the West Water Treatment Plant that provides Horseshoe Bay West with potable water.

In the next six months, engineers will be finalizing plans and specifications prior to a bidding process.

“Our timeline is to start construction in June 2015 and complete the project by April 2016,” aid Jeff Koska, community services director yesterday, Sept. 4.

The city council voted unanimously to approve the planning stage of the project at a special meeting Tuesday, Sept. 2.

The current, “conventional” system that was built in 2000 is able to process 1 million gallons of water a day, but the growth in population is leading to increased demand. “The majority of houses built have been in that part of Horseshoe Bay,” making it the fastest growing sector of the city, Koska said.

The new plant will be able to process at least 3 million gallons per day, possibly more.

He noted that citizens are doing their part to control consumption in the drought that is likely to continue, with usage dropping 22 percent since 2011.

Still, in the middle of summer, half a million gallons of water per day are piped from the city’s Central Water Treatment Plant to supplement the needs of Horseshoe Bay West.

For the full story, see Friday's Highlander.