Wastewater rates are based on cost of service studies (See “How are water and wastewater rates developed?”) to cover the higher operating costs associated with these operations. This includes operating and maintaining two wastewater plants and complying with TCEQ TLAP and 210 regulations for land applying wastewater effluent. Since the PUA is in an environmentally sensitive area, we cannot discharge wastewater from treatment plants directly into Little Barton Creek due to the Endangered Species Act and other restrictions. Rather, we have to perform additional treatment of the wastewater through filtration and chlorine addition, and pump this effluent to large holding ponds for storage and subsequent land application at TLAP golf courses and 210 HOA common areas. We also spend $1,000,000 a year disposing of wastewater sludge and have to incur significant costs controlling odors due to proximity of our plants to residential areas and the characteristics of our effluent.
