Wastewater Operations

The City of Horseshoe Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant is located west of Horseshoe Bay. The treatment plant is a Sequence Batch Reactor plant built by Aqua Aerobics . The facility was constructed in 1995 and has a treatment capacity of 800,000 gallons per day. Current expansion plans include construction activities expanding the treatment plant to 2,200,000 gallons per day. In addition to expanding treatment capacity, upgrades include installation of a head-works auto-filtering system, re-lining of the front treated wastewater holding pond, and upgrade of plant blowers and motors.

The treated effluent is stored in two storage holding ponds located onsite. the stored effluent water is pumped through continuous backwash, filtered and pressurized to irrigate the Ram Rock and Apple Rock golf courses in Horseshoe Bay West. All treated wastewater effluent is 100% recycled on to the golf courses.

Tours of the treatment plant may be arranged by contacting the Plant Supervisor at 830.598.9983.

Wastewater Treatment plant with a large pool of water

About the Wastewater System

The low-pressure sewer system installed by the City was the first to be installed in Texas and is now a popular option for many areas where rock or groundwater problems exist. After the customers utilize the potable water, it is then collected from the resident’s home or business into a grinder pump system basin located on the customer’s property. The pump is usually within 10 feet of the building.

The grinder pump basin system collects the wastewater which is ground up and pumped by a pressure pump through the customer’s yard line to the City’s sewer mainline. The main lines transport the wastewater to large collection basins called lift stations. The lift stations collect wastewater from a large geographical area usually defined by the topographical nature of the collection area. The wastewater is then pressurized and pumped through large mainlines called trunk lines that transport the wastewater to the treatment plant to be treated.

As of October 2018, the City of Horseshoe Bay maintains 3,606 individual grinder pump systems, 88 miles of wastewater mainlines, and 9 wastewater lift stations in the wastewater collection system.