North Texas Municipal Water District—East Fork Raw Water Project Facility Tour
Monday, September 8
1:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
Cost $45
Limited to 30 people
To meet the current and future water demands of a growing population and expanding service area, the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) East Fork Raw Water Supply Project diverts return flows from the East Fork Trinity River through an 1800-acre constructed wetland. The wetland system relies on plants native to the north central Texas eco-region to enhance water quality and provide wetland habitat and educational and public use areas. The system provides enhanced treatment through natural processes and pumps the polished water to Lavon Lake. Lavon Lake supplies raw water for the NTMWD water treatment plant which serves approximately 1.6 million customers in north central Texas. At its ultimate capacity, the NTMWD East Fork Raw Water Supply Project will provide nearly 100 MGD of additional raw water to the NTMWD system.
This interesting tour will begin with a presentation describing the project and will include a field trip beginning at the diversion facilities, continuing through the lush plant communities of the active wetland system, and conclude at the conveyance pump station.
Dallas County Utility Reclamation District and Trinity River Authority—Urban Reuse Facility Tour
Tuesday, September 9
9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Cost $55 (includes lunch)
Limited to 40 People
Las Colinas is a 12,000-acre high quality residential-commercial development in Irving, TX, located between Fort Worth and Dallas. One of the foremost appeals of the development is the water features such as lakes and canals that are interspersed throughout the property. For the development to succeed and maintain its aesthetic appeal, it was necessary to secure dedicated water supplies which would be available during drought periods. Reuse water has proven to be the answer to providing a dedicated supply, secure from water rationing and other constraints that might limit supplies from more conventional sources. Up to 8,000 acre-feet of treated effluent is purchased from the Central Regional Wastewater System under a long-term contract with the Trinity River Authority of Texas. The distribution and delivery systems were installed in the early 1980s; since then the project has successfully delivered quality irrigation water and has maintained the water level in lakes and canals throughout Las Colinas as part of what was the largest reuse project in Texas.
The tour will begin with a presentation describing the history and changing regulatory environment associated with this project. The presentation will be followed by a tour of the attractive water features of the beautiful and prestigious Las Colinas commercial and residential area and lunch at one of the fine restaurants near the Mustangs at Williams Square.
Texas Instruments Semiconductor Manufacturing Facility Tour
Tuesday, September 9
1:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Cost $45
Limited to 40 people
Texas Instruments, a global technology innovator, will provide a presentation and tour of their newest manufacturing facility in Richardson, TX. The 1.1 million square foot manufacturing complex was recently awarded LEED Gold Certification - becoming the first LEED Gold chip plant and one of the largest LEED certified projects in the world.
The facility features a host of energy and water saving design elements - passive solar design, solar water heating, light shelves, responsive lighting, demand controlled ventilation, heat recovery chillers, rainwater collection, and waterfree urinals to name a few. Much of the water savings came from the process side and the deionized water plant with features such as reverse osmosis brine used in the cooling towers, primary mixed bed water used for lower grade process water, secondary ultrafiltration for additional water recovery, tool final rinse water recovery, industrial waste water used for exhaust scrubbers, and make-up air condensate collection.
The net result is a building that uses 38% less energy than code minimum, has a water reuse rate of 40%, and resulted in a 50% reduction in plant emissions. These efforts will result in an annual operating savings of $4M.The plant cost 30% LESS to build than TI's previous facility just six miles away.