The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is awarding a $52 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the City of Pflugerville, Texas, to support the city’s Water Treatment Plant Expansion Project.
The project will increase the plant’s drinking water treatment capacity with new treatment and filtration technologies.
“Congratulations to the City of Pflugerville on closing the first WIFIA loan in the State of Texas,” says Radhika Fox, EPA’s assistant administrator for water. “With this loan, the EPA is providing the City of Pflugerville with low-cost financing to undertake critical upgrades to their drinking water system that serves 76,000 residents.”
The Water Treatment Plant Expansion project will increase Pflugerville’s drinking water system’s capacity from 17.7 million gallons per day to 30 million gallons per day in order to meet a projected rise in demand. The city will also utilize new pretreatment and filtration technologies to enhance the system’s disinfection process and help meet EPA standards. Overall, these improvements will help the system comply with regulatory requirements, enhance overall system resiliency, and meet projected water demand through 2050.
“I'm monumentally excited about this project and our strategic funding strategies because it delivers what the residents deserve for clean water at a great price,” says Brandon Pritchett, public utility director for the City of Pflugerville. “While we have to do a lot of work to get there, it delivers a project that the ratepayers deserve, and a clean product that's going to be resilient and robust for the next 30 years.”
By financing with a WIFIA loan, the City of Pflugerville will save over $13 million and will be able to accelerate other capital improvement projects for its drinking water system. Construction is expected to be completed in 2023, and construction and operation are estimated to create approximately 325 jobs.
