Water System
The City of Laredo owns and operates two water treatment plants, which have a combined pumpage capacity of 85 million gallons per day (MGD). The City of Laredo uses surface water from the Rio Grande River as its source of raw water. Water is diverted directly from the river to the immediately adjacent water treatment plant facilities by two separate river intakes, two separate river pump structures and related multiple pump units. The City of Laredo owns approximately 62,009 acre-feet of municipal water rights. The average daily consumption during the fiscal year 2016 was approximately 36.291 MGD and peak demand was 58.51 MGD. Connections to the water system as of September 30, 2016, were 70,545.
Wastewater System
The City of Laredo owns and operates six wastewater treatment plants, which have a combined total design capacity of 29.251 million gallons per day (MGD). The sewer system includes approximately 754 miles of sewer lines and 70 lift
stations. The pounds of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) treated is 12,488,619 by all six wastewater treatment plants and a total bio-solids disposal cost of $635,219. The average daily treatment for the fiscal year 2016 was approximately 20.637 MGD with a total of 65,291 sewer connections as of September 30, 2016.
The City of Laredo Utilities Department provides water and sanitary sewer services within city limits and its extraterritorial jurisdictions.