The mission of the Water and Wastewater Division is to provide safe drinking water to the citizens of Caldwell and maintaining the operations of the system by minimizing service interruptions and improving and maintaining the water system. In addition to collecting and treating wastewater, and maintaining the operations of the system by maintaining and improving the wastewater system.

Your Water Services Department works hard to provide customers with safe, high-quality drinking water and outstanding wastewater treatment services. This effort begins at the water source and continues throughout the water distribution and wastewater treatment processes. To view the Utilities Ordinance, click on the “Code of Ordinances” Button.

For repairs, leaks, stoppages, overflow, billing or more information contact the Utility Department at 979-567-3271 ext. 100 or 101

If you have ever wondered where your water comes from, or what is in your drinking water, you will find the answer to these and more questions in the annual Drinking Water Quality Report (also known as the Consumer Confidence Report). Public water suppliers must provide these reports to their water customers each year by July 1, as required by the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).

A drought contingency plan or DCP is a strategy or combination of strategies that a water supplier, such as a city, develops and implements to monitor and respond to a drought or other temporary water supply shortage that can severely disrupt the supply of water to customers.

The purpose of a DCP is to conserve available water supply in times of drought and temporary water supply shortages by limiting the water available for non-essential uses, such as outdoor watering, and maintain supplies for essential uses, such as drinking water, sanitation, and fire protection, in order to protect and preserve public health, welfare, and safety.

All retail public water suppliers, wholesale water suppliers, and irrigation districts are required to have a DCP. If a public water system is a retail public water supplier, it is required to have a DCP.

DCPs are developed at the local level, by the water supplier, and focus on potential issues related to their water system’s production capacity or water supply sources. Each DCP is unique to each water supplier’s specific needs and water supply operations.

A DCP typically includes drought stages and response measures that restrict the use of water within a water supplier’s system under specific conditions. A DCP includes triggers for each drought stage, which are typically based on water supply or demand. The “triggering” criteria is information that the water supplier monitors to determine when to initiate a specific stage in the plan. The DCP also includes responses for each stage and targets for water use reductions for each stage of the plan. Click here to read the City of Caldwell's Drought Contingency Plan. For more information or tips on how to do your part in helping the City of Caldwell conserve and reduce water waste please visit https://www.caldwelltx.gov/waterconservationtips/

Wastewater Treatment and Compliance Wastewater / Sewer Ordinance The City of Caldwell has one wastewater treatment plant to treat all of the sludge in our community's wastewater.

Treatment Process: Activated sludge treatment is an aerobic (oxygen dependent) process that uses millions of microorganisms to remove waste materials from the water. There are two basic stages in the treatment of wastewater: the primary stage, in which most solids are removed, and the secondary stage, which removes organic materials and nutrients.

Primary Treatment: Approximately 60 percent of all solids and organic materials are removed from the wastewater during the initial stage known as primary treatment. As wastewater enters the treatment plant, it flows through a screen to remove large floating objects, such as rags and sticks, which might clog pipes or damage equipment. After the wastewater has been screened, heavier solids are allowed to settle to the bottom of a clarifier and are removed by submerged pumps. The heavier removed solids are combined to form sludge. Lighter solids, such as grease and scum, float to the surface and are skimmed off and placed in a container called a scum box.

Secondary Treatment: With the help of microorganisms, secondary treatment removes about 95% of the organic matter from wastewater. This process begins with water flowing into an aeration basin where induced air keeps the microorganisms and food source in contact. Solids are even further removed from the water through a settling process similar to that used in primary treatment.

Disinfection: During the final stage, known as disinfection or final treatment, chlorine is added to the water to kill any remaining pathogenic bacteria and to reduce odor. Excess chlorine is then removed by adding sulfur dioxide, making the water safe for fish and receiving water bodies. Alternatively, UV (ultraviolet) light can be used in place of chlorine gas and sulfur dioxide gas to achieve disinfection. The clean, safe and treated water is then discharged into the environment. The quality of the water released from the treatment plants is actually cleaner than the existing water in the area creeks.

Sludge and scum removed during the treatment process is further reduced through the process of anaerobic digestion. Mimicking the stomach’s digestion process, naturally occurring microorganisms work to break down sludge and scum into biosolids. Excess water is removed from the biosolids, or treated sludge, by a belt press or gravity filter and are eventually sent to the BVSWMA Compost Facility to produce high quality compost.