Water Treatment Plant #4 | The Berl Handcox Sr. Water Treatment Plant – Austin, Texas

Project Description:

The project is the first phase of a 300 MGD water treatment plant that is the new water source for Austin, Texas. The project includes twenty-three new primary buildings and water holding structures and will provide an initial water treatment capacity of 50 MGD.

The main process starts with three thirty-five foot diameter, twenty feet tall Intake Screens installed at several elevations along a nine foot diameter intake pipe at the bottom of Lake Travis.

A nine foot diameter lake tap inlet opens into a twelve foot diameter tunnel, one and a half miles long, bringing lake water to the Raw Water Pump Station on Bullock Hollow Road.

A second tunnel takes the water from the Raw Water Pump Station to the main water treatment plant site. The water gravity flows through the Raw Water Pipe Gallery to a pair of 150 foot diameter, octagonal Upflow Clarifiers.

The water continues to the Filter Building and on to the Clearwells. The treated water leaves the plant, by gravity, and connects with the City of Austin’s water distribution system via a 7-mile tunnel to Jollyville GST.

Ancillary structures at the plant location
include: the Lime Handling Facility, Washwater Complex, the Thickener Complex, Centrifuge Building, Chemical Building, Sodium Hypochlorite, Liquid Ammonium Sulfate Building, Sludge Handling Facility, Administration Building, Electrical Sub-Station, Maintenance Shop, and Recycle Pump Station, along with various vaults and pads.

(Designed By Guerra Engineering)

Services Provided:

Guerra Engineering provided complete structural engineering design and construction administration services.

Guerra Engineering provided complete Mechanical HVAC, electrical, and plumbing engineering design for the Maintenance Building.

Awards / Recognition:

Administration building received USGBC LEED GOLD Certification and is pursuing LEED Silver for the Maintenance Building.

2013 ACEC Texas Engineering Excellence Awards – Silver Medal Winner

2016 ACEC Texas Engineering Excellence Awards – Gold Medal Winner