Background

The utility provides water and wastewater services to residents of Miguel Alemán, as well as to residents in the nearby community of Los Guerra. Water service coverage is currently estimated at 95% of this population, while sewer service coverage is only 78%.

Residents who are not connected to the sewer system use septic tanks, which discharge raw sewage into the El Buey creek and the Rio Grande, the main source of drinking water for Miguel Alemán, as well as many communities downstream. In addition, a large portion of the existing wastewater collection system is in poor condition, allowing sewage to leak into the soil with the potential to contaminate local groundwater.

Moreover, the existing wastewater treatment plant is out of operation. It is severely deteriorated and completely obstructed due to lack of maintenance since its construction in 1967. Consequently, the collected wastewater is currently being discharged into the Rio Grande without treatment.

To remedy this situation, the water utility is proposing a project to improve the wastewater collection system and construct a new wastewater treatment plant.

Description

The project consists of the following main components:

• Construction of the Pino Suarez force main;
• Construction of three collectors;
• Construction of one lift station and equipping of three existing lift stations to increase flow capacity; and
• Construction of a lagoon-based wastewater treatment facility with a design capacity of 112.5 liters per second (lps) or 2.6 million gallons a day (mgd), to be built in two phases. The first phase will have a treatment capacity of 75 lps (1.7 mgd). 

The treated effluent will be discharged to an irrigation canal for reuse.

Benefits

This project will reduce environmental and health hazards associated with inadequate sewage disposal by eliminating a source of raw wastewater discharges into the Rio Grande, thus providing a safer and healthier water supply for local residents, as well as for downstream users in both the U.S. and Mexico. In addition, the project will enable the utility to meet current and future wastewater demand in compliance with state and federal regulations.