Representative Projects
Seawater Desalination Pilot Project on South Padre Island: Designed, Constructed and Operated by NRS and Befesa WaterBuild
The Laguna Madre Water District (LMWD), which serves the tourist destination of South Padre Island, hired NRS to design and pilot a seawater desalination facility, the first of NRS' projects to take water directly from the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot project pre-treats seawater through conventional and microfiltration systems before using reverse osmosis to remove salt and other minerals from the water.
Because of the increasing cost of delivering and treating surface water from the Rio Grande and the desire for alternative sources, LMWD is evaluating the effectiveness of a seawater desalination plant to supplement its existing water supplies to meet current and future demands.
The South Padre Island desalination pilot plant is currently funded by a $231,000 grant from the Texas Water Development Board and $748,000 from LMWD. It is located on the northern end of the island within Cameron County's Andy Bowie Park.
The pilot project will be complete by December 2009 and will help determine the most cost-effective design for LMWD to prepare to build a full-scale plant.
The Second Largest Brackish Groundwater Desalination Plant in Texas: Plan, Design, and Construction Management by NRS
The Southmost Regional Water Authority's reverse osmosis plant is providing up to 7.5 million gallons per day (MGD) of high quality drinking water to Brownsville, Los Fresnos, Valley Municipal Utility District No. 1 (Rancho Viejo), Indian Lake, and the Port of Brownsville. This alternative water supply can fill more than 40 percent of the annual needs of each entity, thus decreasing the area's dependency on the over-allocated Rio Grande. The $22 million construction budget for the project included $9.5 million for the treatment plant and storage and pumping facilities and $5.6 million to install 30 miles of pipe to move raw and treated water.
The plant is delivering "bottle-quality" water at standard treatment costs of about $1.40 to $1.60 per 1000 gallons, and received the 2004 Water Conservation & Reuse Award by the Texas Section – American Water Works Association.
Seawater Desalination Pilot in Texas: Design and Construction Management by NRS
The Texas Seawater Desalination Demonstration Project is the next step toward building a full-scale facility capable of harnessing the Gulf of Mexico as an alternative water source. The pilot plant collected data on the characteristics of the source water and analyzing various technologies to define the most effective and economical process and optimize components for a full-scale facility. The results were incorporated into final plant design, with construction anticipated in late 2009 and start-up in late 2010. Click to read the Executive Summary or Full Report.
The plant will be sized to eventually produce up to 25 million gallons of water per day.
Partners on the project include the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, the Texas Water Development Board, and the Port of Brownsville.
The First Completed NADBank Water Conservation Projection: Construction Management by NRS
NRS managed a suite of system improvement projects totaling some $15 million for Cameron County Irrigation District No. 2 (the San Benito District). Components included replacing a 100-year-old pumping station, engineering for a new canal interconnect and over 17 miles of canal lining, and converting open canals to underground piping. North American Development Bank and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation funds covered the majority of expenses.
The projects came in $2.2 million under budget and six months ahead of schedule. All told, they are helping save almost 12,000 acre-feet of water per year: more than 3.6 BILLION gallons.