Years in the making
A pilot project was started in 2015, and ran for nearly nine months, to run the treatment processes. The initial pilot was completed in early 2016.
Recently, a portion of the pilot was redone for the low-pressure membranes, which is the first step in the facility’s treatment process.
“That was for TCEQ approval, because we wanted to use newer up-to-date membranes,” Villalobos said. “There were more innovative membranes that we wanted to take advantage of.”
El Paso is currently working with the PCL Construction/Sundt Construction joint venture on the project.
“We’re looking to have the facility in operation by 2028,” Trejo said. “That will include construction – we’re looking at 24 to 30 months for that – the rest of the time will be spent commissioning, ensuring that the facility is meeting permitting, and then we’ll spend some time ensuring the training of our operators.”
Education in and around the plant
The Pure Water Center will feature a visitor center to offer educational opportunities to learn about water reuse. It will detail local water sources, water supplies, environmental stewardship and advanced water treatment processes.
According to Trejo, the El Paso community was very accepting of direct potable reuse. The visitor center will further solidify public trust through education on where the city’s water comes from.
Another aspect of education that often goes overlooked in advanced treatment is operator training.
“It doesn’t get talked about enough – about how these advanced treatment processes require high-skilled operators,” Trejo said. “This type of system is new for El Paso Water, so getting the maintenance technicians and operators to understand this type of technology is a goal for us.”
Outside of continuous education, El Paso Water looks to inspire utilities nationwide.
“Our goal is to be an inspiration for other utilities and the water reuse community,” said El Paso Water Communications and Marketing Manager Chritina Montoya-Halter. “We want to be open and available to those other communities.”
Project challenges
The Pure Water Center has had its fair share of challenges over the years, but one of the most notable challenges has been with funding.
The total project cost is currently estimated to be around $295 million.
“This project could’ve gone as early as 2019,” Trejo said. "At the time, the original estimate started at $110 million and then grew to $130 million, and then the pandemic hit, and the world changed. Since then, we’ve really had to manage our capital improvements program utility-wide because the estimate was in the 130’s and the final price as of now is $295 million.”
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation awarded $3.5 million in 2019 for the facility’s design and committed an additional $20 million in 2022 to support construction.
“Having to self-fund a project like this has been one of the bigger challenges, and rather unexpected considering the magnitude of the impact this project is going to have on the water industry,” Trejo said.
Throughout the years the El Paso team has had to balance work on the new Pure Water Center with other utility needs. This required the city to play a balancing act between designing and implementing the water center while performing upgrades to its existing system.
Another challenge has been maintaining project momentum. The city has seen elected officials, regulators and media personnel come and go since 2012. El Paso Water took the initiative to educate stakeholders on the project to make sure everyone has been properly informed.
The silver lining of water reuse
Although the project faced some challenges it also had some gleaming moments.
For Villalobos, one of these moments came late last year when the project gained approval from TCEQ.
“I popped a bottle of champagne after that one,” Villalobos said.
For Montoya-Halter, the highlight so far has been the announcement of construction.
“It has been such a journey to see it come to fruition,” Montoya-Halter said. “To see so many people come out for the groundbreaking and be excited and supportive of the facility – and then also the new name – has been a huge highlight for me.”
Trejo mentioned two major highlights thus far in the project. The first was having the ability to do this project for the community.
“This project just makes so much sense on so many levels,” Trejo said.
The second highlight for Trejo was the team that was put together.
“Nothing that we have done on this project has been without a very clear strategy,” Trejo said. “It started with hiring Carollo Engineers. Their group of experts have hit the mark on anything we could’ve asked for. And then we add on to that the Sundt/PCL Joint Venture. You couldn’t ask for a better team to construct this facility.”
