San Antonio Water System breaks ground on massive sewer line

Aug 9, 2019

https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-Water-System-breaks-ground-on-massive-14288915.php

Local and federal officials officially launched the single largest sewer project in San Antonio history — a pipeline so big that a Toyota Tacoma could drive through it.

Standing next to a section of the massive pipe Wednesday, San Antonio Water System board Chairman Berto Guerra quipped: “I had no idea, excuse my language, how much poop we actually have to take care of.”

The $200 million, 5-mile-long segment, which will run along U.S. 90 and Military Drive, should be completed by July 2023 and will collect waste from as far as Fair Oaks Ranch on the Northwest Side.

The San Antonio Water System is constructing a pipeline for sewage so wide a truck can drive through it. The $200 million, 5-mile segment on the South Side will run along Military Drive, which bifurcates Lackland AFB, and provide service for more than 500,000 people.

It’s among the improvements SAWS agreed to do under a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to curb sanitary sewer overflows. SAWS is set to spend about $1.1 billion on its sewer system from 2013 to 2023 — about $492.1 million more than it would have spent otherwise.