The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $52 million loan to a small suburban Texas town for critical drinking water system upgrades.
The EPA Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan to Pflugerville, Texas, is the first in that state, according to a Nov. 1 EPA news release.
"Congratulations to the city of Pflugerville on closing the first WIFIA loan in the state of Texas," EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox said in the news release. "With this loan, the EPA is providing the city of Pflugerville with low-cost financing to undertake critical upgrades to their drinking water system that serves 76,000 residents."
Pflugerville's plans to spend the money on its Water Treatment Plant Expansion Project to increase the city's drinking water system to meet a demand to 30 million gallons per day, a dramatic increase from 17.7 million gallons per day, according to the release.
"With this WIFIA loan, EPA is helping to increase how much drinking water the plant can treat and making the water safer to drink through new treatment and filtration technology," the news release said.
The expansion is needed to address water quality concerns, protect public health and meet the city's projected water demand through 2050, the release reported. Upgrades to the city's drinking water infrastructure, including new pretreatment and filtration technologies expected to enhance the systems disinfection process, will help the city meet EPA standards. Those standards including regulatory requirements and enhanced overall system resiliency.
"I'm monumentally excited about this project and our strategic funding strategies because it delivers what the residents deserve for clean water at a great price," Pflugerville Public Utility Director Brandon Pritchett said in the news release. "While we have to do a lot of work to get there, it delivers a project that the ratepayers deserve and a clean product that's going to be resilient and robust for the next 30 years."
