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Bill Smith, P.E., C.F.M. - Assistant Director of Public Works-Engineering, City of Weatherford 

Weatherford is a great place, great place to live, great place to work. We are growing very quickly while maintaining our heritage and our small-town feel. We pride ourselves on building a strong community through our service, our public safety, and building our infrastructure.

Rick Shaffer, P.E. - Director of Water Utilities, City of Weatherford 

North Texas is one of the fastest growing regions in the U.S. A lot of people who are moving away from some of the larger cities are coming west, coming into Weatherford. We get our...our primary source of water supply is Lake Weatherford. And during a normal year, Lake Weatherford can provide a sufficient amount of water for our customers. However, during years of drought, we have to supplement those water supplies by purchasing water from Lake Benbrook through our partner, Tarrant Regional Water District.

Bill Smith, P.E., C.F.M. - Assistant Director of Public Works-Engineering, City of Weatherford

We wanted to find another reliable source of water. And this is a great way to do that. It's becoming more and more common to have a reuse project like this, to reuse some of that treated water that comes from our residents and reusing that again.

Rick Shaffer, P.E. - Director of Water Utilities, City of Weatherford

Indirect reuse takes treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant and pumps that back into a stream or reservoir, where it can be blended with other natural water supplies. And it stays there for an extended period of time, and then it can later be withdrawn and sent to a water treatment plant for treatment, and then reuse or use by the city's customers.

For Weatherford specifically, this means taking water or treated effluent from this water reclamation facility and pumping that water six and a half miles back to Lake Weatherford, where it will be blended with other natural inflows and any water that is still purchased from Lake Benbrook.

Bill Smith, P.E., C.F.M. - Assistant Director of Public Works-Engineering, City of Weatherford

One of the bigger things that was constructed is that right behind me, the pump station back here, you can see those two pump stations and that electric building. So what that does is it is sized to pump all the water that comes from this plant, to pump it back to Lake Weatherford.

Rick Shaffer, P.E. - Director of Water Utilities, City of Weatherford

So one of the main things about this project is it helps supplement those water supplies in Lake Weatherford, and it helps raise the level, the water levels in Lake Weatherford. And so that's always been a big plus for our residents, particularly those who live around the lake.

The Texas Water Development Board provided financial assistance for the project through the Clean Water SRF funding program. This included $11.2 million in low-interest loans and over $1.5 million in loan forgiveness.

Bill Smith, P.E., C.F.M. - Assistant Director of Public Works-Engineering, City of Weatherford 

Folks that are aware of the project can definitely see the benefits of having another reliable source of water and just being able to provide additional water for our customers.

Rick Shaffer, P.E. - Director of Water Utilities, City of Weatherford

This project has been a long time coming, and it's exciting to see such an important project completed and operating. We've received a tremendous amount of support from our city council and our municipal utility board. And as I mentioned before, our residents are excited because it helps put more water into Lake Weatherford.