EAST ALDINE– The capacity for new sewer hook-ups in the Aldine area increased dramatically this week, as the Sunbelt Fresh Water District put into service a rehabilitated sewage plant facillity on Gloger that has been out of service for several years, due to aging and required upgrades.
The work was accomplished by a grant from the East Aldine District, according to Scott Bean, EAMD Public Infrastructure Manager. The grant was in the amount of $1,631,198 and will allow the District to control 93% of hook-ups to the plant, or 2952 homes or their commercial equivalent.
As pointed out in the transmittal letter to the board from Sunbelt Engineer Jim Ainsworth, the resulting 990,000 gallons of wastewater capacity per day is being achieved at a cost of $1.76 per gallon, as compared with $4 to $5 per gallon if the plant had been built new.
Bean reported to the board that this new capacity will ultimately be used to serve single family homes in the treatment plant service area that currently have septic tank systems.
Ainsworth revealed that it will also allow loads at other nearby Sunbelt sewage plants to be balanced and offloaded to this plant, since they are interconnected. Some of these are nearing capacity.
Sunbelt currently operates six sewage treatment plants in the area. In November 2010 they received a loan from the Texas Water Development Board for $10,440,000 to build replacement sewage treatment facilities at their Woodland Oaks and Oakwilde sites. At that time, customers were paying an average of $73.48 per month for combined water and sewer services. Sunbelt currently serves a total of 7601 water customers, and 6576 sewage customers.