In 2018 NorrisLeal completed the planning, design, and construction management of the 2.0 MGD brackish groundwater desalination facility for the Cinco Ranch MUD No.1. In 2019, NorrisLeal completed the design and construction of a 3.8 MGD Microfiltration. In January 2022 NorrisLeal was hired to operate the facility.

Full Recovery Desalination™ - World's First Commercial Plant

This facility was designed to produce 2.1 MGD of potable water quality from 1 MGD brackish water combined 1.25 MGD of waste brine concentrate and create marketable commodities from brine.

Regional Desalination Facility

From 2001 to present, NorrisLeal has been the engineer of record of the largest producing brackish groundwater treatment plant in Texas. The initial 7.5 MGD plant was constructed in 2004 and expanded in 2014 to 11 MGD. The overall project encompasses 20 wells, 15 miles of raw water collection lines, 9 miles of treated transmission lines, a reverse osmosis membrane treatment system, microfiltration system and a 7.5 million gallon storage tank.

7 MGD Microfiltration Plant

NorrisLeal provided an upgrade and expansion to the district’s conventional surface water treatment plant. This plant provides water to the cities of Port Isabel, South Padre Island and Laguna Vista. Microfiltration replaces the original sand filtration system (constructed in 1985) to provide a superior water quality to their residents.

Seawater Desalination Demonstration Project

In 2007, BPUB and TWDB partnered together to implement a seawater desalination Pilot Study. The pilot facility was located on the north shore of the Brownsville Ship Channel on land made available by the Port of Brownsville. The primary purpose of the pilot was to provide an opportunity to evaluate actual performance of proposed water treatment systems under site-specific conditions. Piloting results would then be used to refine the designs and cost estimates for a full-scale (25 mgd) seawater desalination facility. The Brownsville Seawater Desalination Pilot Project operated from February 2007 to July 2008.

Because the objective of a seawater desalination project was to produce potable drinking water from the ocean, the Pilot Study established testing protocols approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The performance of each pretreatment and primary treatment (reverse osmosis) process was then evaluated and documented. The original study scope developed by BPUB and TWDB called for the comparison of two types of pretreatment technologies: 1) conventional (rapid mix/flocculation/clarification/filtration), and 2) ultrafiltration (a membrane-based technology). However, at the outset of the project, BPUB decided to increase the scope and value of the Pilot Study by including two additional membrane-based pretreatment units. The project budget was thereby increased by almost $1.0 million and funded by BPUB. This side-by-side comparison of four

different pretreatment technologies resulted in an unprecedented level of study complexity

North Cameron Regional BWRO WTP

In 2004, North Alamo Water Supply Corporation teamed with East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corporation and the City of Primera to develop a regional brackish desalination plant. The North Cameron Regional Water Authority was established to provide an alternative water source to its member entities. NL was hired to study the feasibility of the project and provide design and construction management services for the full-scale facility. The 2.25 MGD blended BWRO facility was completed in 2007 at a cost of $6 million. This project allowed authority members to save 2,800 acre feet in water rights at a capital value of $5.8 million. Facilities include a 3 MGD transfer pump station and 6 MGD high service pumping station. Total plant capacity can be expanded to 4.5 MGD as demand grows. The project was able to realize cost savings by co-locating the groundwater wells and treatment facility on the same property.

Services provided by NL include design and construction management, permitting, securing financing and assisting the establishment of the new authority. Development of this facility also served as the subject of the award-winning Guidance Manual for Brackish Groundwater Desalination in Texas (Attachment Included), which NL also completed. This publication was written to serve as a roadmap for municipalities considering developing brackish groundwater as a new resource.

Sanitary Sewer Overflow Project

NorrisLeal was hired to assess and complete the design of 10,000 feet of sanitary sewer replacement and two lift stations within the City of Brownsville. This project was part of Presidential initiative for shovel ready projects. NL was given 30 days to complete the design and be ready to bid, and successfully completed the task.

BPUB Off Channel Reservoir

NL provided design and construction management of a 608,000 m3 (160 million gallon) raw water storage reservoir located adjacent to the existing off channel storage reservoir at Water Treatment Plant No. 1, a 60 inch by-pass line was constructed from the existing parshall flume to the new reservoir. Additional construction included metering facilities, piping modifications, variable speed drive electrical and telemetry improvements.

Water Infrastructure Improvements

NL planned, designed, and managed construction of a comprehensive, multi-component project to improve the reliability and efficiency of operations for the San Benito Irrigation District. Individual components included replacing the 100-year-old pumphouse with a new 700 cubic foot per second (cfs) pumping station and twin 96-inch delivery pipelines, constructing 2.5 miles of new concrete-lined canals, converting 16 miles of open canal to pipeline, and integrating key water measurement and control points into a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.

NL also provided financial accounting for the cooperative effort between the project funding agencies: the US Bureau of Reclamation and North American Development Bank. Project improvements modernized the raw water delivery system, and conserved 30,880 acre-feet of water, 1.7 million kilowatts of energy, and $478,000 of operation and maintenance expenses each year. The first component, replacement of the river pump station, was completed in February 2005, eight months ahead of schedule and over $1 million dollars under budget. Total savings for all project components total over $2 million. Innovative scheduling produced the project in record time.

Water Supply Facilities Plan

Seawater Desalination Feasibility and Pilot Study

In 2008, The Laguna Madre Water District (LMWD), with assistance from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), evaluated alternatives to instituting seawater desalination on South Padre Island at the same time it was conducting pilot testing to evaluate the actual performance of a proposed seawater reverse osmosis treatment facility at site specific conditions.

The purpose of the Pilot Study was to evaluate the most cost effective method for desalinating seawater on South Padre Island. By developing a series of performance specifications, the pilot study was performed with the ultimate goal of establishing specific design parameters to be implemented at a full-scale facility. Siting, intake design, pretreatment, primary treatment, post treatment, and concentrate discharge were all evaluated using real time data.The pilot contended with unique operating conditions over the course of the Study, including a red tide event and inclement tropical weather.

Southmost Regional BWRO Facility 

Donna Brackish Desalination Facility

NorrisLeal design and construction management teams realized significant savings for a network of regional brackish groundwater desalination plants for the North Alamo WSC. The price tag for drilling wells and constructing the first of the four reverse osmosis plants was less than what the client would have spent to acquire new surface water rights for a new conventional treatment plant. After completing four brackish desalination plants for the North Alamo WSC (one of which was completed as a regional project) to support its customers across the Valley, NRS and its construction team, (now NorrisLeal) designed and constructed a (2.0 MGD) brackish desalination facility in Donna under a single design-build contract. Efficiencies achievable under this approach allowed the facility to be completed five months ahead of schedule.

700 CFS Pumpstation Management

NL planned, designed, and managed construction of a comprehensive, multi-component project to improve the reliability and efficiency of operations for the San Benito Irrigation District. Individual components included replacing the 100-year-old pumphouse with a new 700 cubic foot per second (cfs) pumping station and twin 96-inch delivery pipelines, constructing 2.5 miles of new concrete-lined canals, converting 16 miles of open canal to pipeline, and integrating key water measurement and control points into a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.