El Paso Water, Texas, USA – Operating Groundwater Augmentation
The City of El Paso has a distinct culture, climate and supply of resources that makes water consumption unique among similar cities in the desert southwest. El Paso is located on the northern extreme of the Chihuahuan Desert and lies on the frontier of three states and two countries. El Paso Water serves about 220,000 customers with diverse water supply sources including both fresh and brackish groundwater, Rio Grande water, and reclaimed water.
Since 1985, the Hueco Bolson Recharge Project has produced water that meets drinking water standards for aquifer injection and infiltration. The Fred Hervey Water Reclamation plant, receives raw (untreated) municipal wastewater and uses a ten-step treatment process that includes screening, degritting, clarification, equalisation, flow equalisation, two-stage recarbonation, sand filtration, ozonation, GAC filtration and chlorination and storage.
But the Fred Hervey Water Reclamation Plant is just one part of the El Paso Water’s resource management strategy. Read El Paso 2: El Paso Water’s design for the Advanced Water Purification Facility, starting construction in 2024.
El Paso Water already operates the TecH2O Water Resources Learning Center, where visitors gain an understanding and appreciation of total water management in the Chihuahuan Desert.
