Harlingen Strives for High-Quality Water, Sewer Services

The City of Harlingen ensures the drinking water is clean and safe. Stringent testing and in-house water laboratories mean Harlingen water meets all drinking water standards and that the city can easily respond to consumer concerns.

Water - Laboratory

HWWS maintains a water quality laboratory to serve the community, surrounding utilities and private sector clients. The laboratory meets stringent Quality Assurance requirements set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and is certified to analyze drinking water Chemical and Bacteriological contaminants that may pose a health risk.

Goals of Water Quality Lab

  • Ensure compliance with all Drinking Water Standards for the protection of public health established by the EPA and TCEQ.
  • Respond to consumer concerns by answering questions about drinking water, preparing and distributing water quality reports, collecting and analyzing samples and investigating problems involving water quality, seeps or other environmental concerns.
  • Analyze our source water supplies to help determine what treatment is needed to consistently produce a high-quality drinking water.
  • Monitor the treated water to assess the effectiveness of the treatment process.
  • Test new water mains to ensure that they meet sanitation requirements before they are connected to the distribution system.
  • Provide an early warning of problems in the distribution system that may require changes in the treatment process, or in the operation and maintenance of the system.

Water Treatment

All the water is taken from the Rio Grande through the Harlingen Irrigation District in the southwest part of the city at Dixieland Water Treatment Plant and the other water treatment plant located in the center of town at the Downtown Water Treatment Plant.

1 Acre-foot of water =
325,850
 Gallons
Original Amount of Water Rights
17,070
 Acre Feet
Additional Water Rights Purchased
4,268
 Acre Feet
Total City Water Rights
21,338
 Acre Feet
OR
6,953,008,638
 Gallons
Total Treatment Capacity
27
 Million gallons/day
Average Water Treated
10
 Million gallons/day
Total Water Reclaimed
2,400
 Acre Feet
OR
782,042,400
 Gallons
Number of customers
21,100
Total Water Treated in one year
5,158,697,000
Gallons
Total miles of water lines
455
 Miles
Total miles of sewer lines
253
Miles
Total number of fire hydrants
2,002

Treated water is furnished for the following Water District Cities:

  • Combes
  • Primera
  • Palm Valley
  • East Rio Hondo
  • Military Highway Water Supply Corp.

Water Storage System

Water for the City is stored after processing in either ground or elevated storage tanks. The Harlingen WaterWorks has 2 elevated storage facilities located around the city. Two new ground storage tanks located at Treasure Hills Boulevard and Schmoker Road have been built that will each store 10 million gallons of additional water for the city's use. The Treasure Hills Storage Tank can store up to 10 million gallons of water. This tank will service Valley Baptist Hospital and the Treasure Hills area to assure an adequate supply of water at all times.

  • Inside City Water Impact Fee
    Year
    3/4"
    1"
    1 1/2"
    2"
    3"
    4"
    6"
    8"
    10"
    2005
    537
    1,183
    3,086
    3,828
    8,612
    22,964
    47,843
    75,548
    124,391
    2006
    663
    1,539
    4,384
    5,480
    12,330
    32,780
    68,502
    109,603
    178,105
    2007
    789
    1,895
    5,706
    7,132
    16,048
    42,595
    89,161
    142,658
    231,819
    2008
    915
    2,251
    7,028
    8,784
    19,765
    52,612
    109,820
    175,713
    285,533
    2009
    1,044
    2,610
    8,351
    10,438
    23,486
    62,630
    130,480
    208,768
    339,248
    Source: City of Harlingen
  • Inside City Sewer Impact Fee
    Year
    3/4"
    1"
    1 1/2"
    2"
    3"
    4"
    6"
    8"
    10"
    2005
    675
    1,466
    4,691
    5,864
    13,193
    35,182
    73,295
    117,272
    190,567
    2006
    800
    1,999
    6,397
    7,996
    17,991
    47,975
    99,948
    159,917
    259,865
    2007
    977
    2,443
    7,818
    9,773
    21,988
    58,636
    122,159
    195,454
    317,612
    2008
    1,422
    3,554
    11,372
    14,215
    31,983
    85,289
    177,686
    284,297
    461,952
    2009
    1,599
    3,998
    12,794
    15,992
    35,981
    95,950
    199,896
    319,834
    519,729
    Source: City of Harlingen

Water Treatment Plants

The Downtown Water Treatment plant is a state of the art Actiflo system capable of producing 18.7 million gallons per day (MGD). The Actiflo process is a compact high performance water clarification system that combines microsand enhanced flocculation with lamellar tube settling. The addition of microsand serves as a flocculation aid and ballasting agent, allowing for an overflow rate of 22 gallons per minute/ft2. This overflow rate results in a system footprint that is much smaller than a conventional clarification system of similar capacity.

The MFR Water Treatment Plant is the larger of the two HWWS water plants. This plant has the capacity to produce 20.4 million gallons per day (MGD). It is more commonly known as the Dixieland Water Plant because of its location at the end of Dixieland Road. There are a total of six operators certified by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

The Dixieland water plant averages about 8.5 million gallons per day (MGD) in water consumption. A max consumption day may reach 18.5 MGD in the summer months.

Waste Water - Pretreatment Program

The National Pretreatment Program is a cooperative effort of federal, state and local regulatory environmental agencies established to protect water quality. The program is designed to reduce the level of pollutants discharged by industry and other non-domestic wastewater sources into municipal sewer systems and thereby reduce the amount of pollutants released into the environment from these sources.

Congress established the National Pretreatment Program under authority of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 as amended by the Clean Water Act of 1977. Implementation requirements of the pretreatment portions of these laws were first codified into 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 403 in 1978.

National Pretreatment Program Objectives

  • Protect publicly owned treatment works (POTW) from pollutants that may cause interference with sewage treatment plant operations.
  • Prevent introducing pollutants into a POTW that could cause pass through of untreated pollutants to receiving waters.
  • Manage pollutant discharges into a POTW to improve opportunities for reuse of POTW wastewater and residuals (sewage sludge).
  • Prevent introducing pollutants into a POTW that could cause worker health or safety concerns, or that could pose a potential endangerment to the public or to the environment.

The term "pretreatment" refers to the requirement that non-domestic sources discharging wastewater to POTWs control their discharges and meet limits established by EPA, the state of Texas or the local municipality (HWWS) on the amount of pollutants allowed to be discharged. The control of the pollutants may necessitate treatment prior to discharge to the POTW (therefore the term "pretreatment"). Limits may often be met by the non-domestic source through pollution prevention techniques (product substitution, recycle and reuse of materials, more efficient production practices, improved environmental management systems, etc.), pretreatment of wastewater, or implementation of best management practices.

Laboratory

The Lab's mission is to provide accurate and precise data for the wastewater treatment facilities to ensure that the facility is in compliance with the Clean Water Act and the State of Texas regulations. The laboratory staff primarily conducts a full range of wet-chemistry analyses on the various stages of wastewater treatment within the plant. The advantage of an in-house laboratory is the ability to provide immediate results.

The analytical results verify process settings and actions, allowing the operations staff to make decisions on how to best treat the wastewater. One of the most critical aspects of the laboratory is to monitor the full range of compliance parameters under the TCEQ's water quality standards. In addition to the daily checks conducted for the treatment plants operation, the laboratory staff also supports the Pretreatment Program. With advancements in technology and high quality instrumentation available to the laboratory staff, it is possible to monitor water quality standards and discharge permit limits required to assure adequate wastewater treatment prior to discharge into the Arroyo Colorado and ultimately the Laguna Madre.

Waste Water Treatment

Wastewater Treatment Plant #1 Capacity 3.1 MGD
Wastewater Treatment Plant #2 Capacity 6.0 MGD

WWTP #1 is located on Taft and South Commerce Streets. This plant is a trickling filter and extended air treatment process and the discharge from the plant goes into the Arroyo Colorado.

WWTP #2 is located 2 miles east of the City and is a trickling filter and extended air treatment process plant. The discharge from this plant goes into the Arroyo Colorado.

Sewage Collection System

The Collection System gathers the sewage from the City. This system is made up of different sizes of pipe ranging from 6 inches to 36 inches in diameter. We have 214 miles of collection system mains or pipes.

In the Collection system we have to have lift stations that pump the sewage due to the flatness of the natural ground in this area. We have 73 lift stations.

Current level of treatment 9.0 MGD
Number of customers 16,220

  • Outside City Water Impact Fee
    Year
    3/4"
    1"
    1 1/2"
    2"
    3"
    4"
    6"
    8"
    10"
    2005
    812
    2,030
    6,495
    8,119
    18,267
    48,712
    101,485
    162,375
    263,859
    2006
    928
    2,320
    7,423
    9,278
    20,877
    55,671
    115,985
    185,571
    301,554
    2007
    1,044
    2,610
    8,351
    10,438
    23,486
    62,630
    130,480
    208,768
    339,248
    2008
    1,160
    2,900
    9,279
    11,598
    26,095
    69,589
    144,978
    231,954
    376,942
    Source: City of Harlingen
  • Outside City Sewer Impact Fee
    Year
    3/4"
    1"
    1 1/2"
    2"
    3"
    4"
    6"
    8"
    10"
    2005
    889
    2,221
    7,108
    8,885
    19,990
    53,306
    111,054
    177,586
    288,739
    2006
    1,155
    2,887
    9,240
    11,550
    25,986
    69,297
    144,370
    230,991
    375,360
    2007
    1,333
    3,332
    10,551
    23,327
    29,984
    79,958
    155,580
    266,528
    433,108
    2008
    1,510
    3,776
    12,083
    15,104
    33,982
    90,619
    188,791
    302,055
    490,855
    2009
    1,777
    4,442
    14,215
    17,769
    39,979
    106,611
    222,107
    355,371
    517,477
    Source: City of Harlingen