Have you ever wondered how the water in Lake Conroe becomes pristine drinking water for communities in Montgomery County? Look no further than our virtual tour of our surface water treatment plant, part of our Groundwater Reduction Plan (GRP). In this story map of the GRP, you will find a fun waterdrop character by the name of Professor Herbert Henry Oliver, also known as Dr. H2O.

Dr H2O

Dr. H2O explains how the growing population of Montgomery County has led to a higher demand for water that resulted in the GRP in an effort to not over pump groundwater and cause subsidence (the sinking of land). The surface water from Lake Conroe acts as a supplement to the groundwater wells in Montgomery County. First, Dr. H2O will take you through the surface water plant overview, featuring many different graphics that explain the entire process of raw water treatment. The process has many steps such as raw water intake, pretreatment, membrane filtering, and granular active carbon filtering. In addition, the water then has to be pumped and stored. It is housed in two ground storage tanks that hold five million gallons of water each. Then, it is pumped through a transmission pipeline that is approximately 55 miles long to deliver the water to the receiving facilities where it is blended with groundwater and distributed by the retail water provider to their customers.

GRP Infographic

To view our GRP story map and take a virtual tour of the process, please visit https://www.sjra.net/grp/treatment-plant/. To learn more about our GRP Division and how they turn raw water into drinking water, please visit https://www.sjra.net/grp/.

Featured in Dock Line Magazine.