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Houston water treatment plant incurs extra costs

The Houston Water Treatment Plant is costing the District nearly $43,000 extra for groundwork and extra supplies.

The Houston Water Treatment Plant is costing the District nearly $43,000 extra.

McElhanney Consulting Services met with Houston Chief Administrative Officer Michael Glavin to discuss the extra work and costs.

The biggest part was for extra groundwork which cost $26,161.

They also painted support columns with an epoxy coating to protect them from corrosion, costing $7,238.

Glavin says they bought more tie-bars for $3,272 and got foundation wall insulation for $6,310.

Director of Finance William Wallace says the water treatment plant budget has $330,000 contingency built in and is “in good shape,” using less than 15 percent to date.

Extra work like this is normal, said CAO Glavin.

“With any project that you work under, there’s always things that crop up.”

He says there’s no such thing as a perfect design plan, and often “conditions change or items are simply overlooked.”

The Water Treatment Plant is expected to be complete by March 2015, then water pipes will be cleaned and everything should be up and running by June 2015.