by Mark Simon
Director of Engineering
New Pipeline Connection within Wylie Water Treatment Plant Expands Water Distribution to the Eastern Parts of NTMWD Service Area
Innovative solution saves money and defers major capital project a decade into the future
Our Wylie Water Treatment Plant complex, with four interdependent water treatment facilities, is considered the “workhorse” of our large regional water system. The first water treatment plant was initially built in the 1950s and became operational in 1956 with a treatment capacity of 20 million gallons of water per day (MGD). Today, the Wylie plants are permitted to treat a whopping combined 840 MGD, and this 500+ acre complex is one of the largest water treatment facilities in the country. Water collected from Lavon Lake undergoes an advanced, multistep treatment process before being distributed to homes and businesses.
NTMWD continues to serve one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. While demands throughout our entire transmission system are increasing, numerous communities in our eastern service area make up a significant portion of that growth. Communities in east Collin and north Rockwall County, such as Fate, Josephine, Nevada, and those served by Caddo Basin Special Utility District, continue to attract new residents and businesses. Current projections show long-term demands beyond 2032 require an additional 100+ million gallons per day to flow into our east system.
With the rapid growth in those communities, we needed a way to increase our ability to send water to the eastern service area in a cost-efficient manner while continuing to meet the needs of the entire service area without interruption. Estimates to upgrade the pump station that feeds the east system were close to $6 million.
We also needed a solution that could be implemented quickly to meet the near-term needs of the east system. With that in mind, NTMWD Engineers developed a plan that delays building major infrastructure for about ten years and saves approximately $3 million for our water system Member Cities and Customers.
Under this plan, we're building a new 36-inch pipeline connecting the existing south and east system pipelines at the Wylie Water Treatment Plant. The project, which begins construction in 2025, will increase the flow of treated water to the eastern part of the District’s conveyance system and allow us to meet the growing needs of that area for more than a decade. This solution allowed us to defer improvements that would cost more and take longer to implement.
The anticipated construction should take between 12 and 18 months, with the new pipeline connection operational by the summer of 2026. The capabilities of this pipeline, with a specialized control valve to adjust the flows coming from an existing high-service pump station, accomplish the goal of increased treated water to the east system, especially during peak demands. It's also much more efficient than upgrading or building a pump station, which would have taken much longer to complete.
As our service area continues to grow, projections show we will need additional infrastructure, including a new water treatment plant. However, to meet the needs in the interim, this innovative solution makes the most efficient use of current funding and, at the same time, ensures treated water is available when these communities need it the most.
Ensuring uninterrupted access to treated drinking water for our current resident population of over 2.3 million requires planning and agility. NTMWD operations and engineering teams work closely together to achieve our mission of providing high quality and dependable services in a cost efficient manner. Being good stewards of our environmental and financial resources remains at the forefront of our organization's core values.