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Water Supply Systems
Service overview
GGE Consulting Engineers provides PE-led public water supply system engineering for municipalities, utility districts, commercial developers, and community infrastructure programs throughout the San Antonio – Austin metroplex, and South Texas. Our water system practice is led by Gustavo Gonzalez, P.E. — a Texas Licensed Professional Engineer who as Director of Water Operations for the City of Corpus Christi managed a 150 MGD treatment plant and a regional distribution system supplying over 500,000 people, and who worked directly with SAWS and the City of San Antonio on utility infrastructure programs. That operational depth — understanding how distribution systems behave in practice, not just how they perform in hydraulic models — is the foundation of every GGE water system design.
1. Water Main Design & Replacement
Complete design of new water distribution mains and replacement of existing deteriorated or undersized pipelines — sized by hydraulic analysis to deliver adequate pressure and flow for domestic service, fire protection, and future demand.
2. Hydraulic Modeling & Flow Analysis
Engineering analysis of water distribution system performance — pressure zone analysis, velocity and head loss calculations, fire flow availability at 20 psi residual, system loop design, and demand projection for future growth — ensuring the designed system meets current and anticipated service requirements.
3. Water Service Extension Design
Engineering design of water service extensions to serve new development — routing new distribution mains from the nearest existing SAWS main to the development boundary, including meter sizing, service line design, and TxDOT utility permit preparation for mains crossing or running within state highway rights-of-way.
4. SAWS Coordination & Plan Approval
Full management of the SAWS engineering review and approval process — submitting design plans to SAWS Engineering, responding to SAWS review comments, coordinating SAWS-qualified contractor procurement, managing construction inspection coordination, and completing SAWS bacteriological testing and pressure test requirements before system activation.
5. TCEQ Public Water System Compliance
Engineering design and plan preparation for TCEQ-regulated Public Water Systems under 30 TAC Chapter 290 — including new community water systems, system expansions, and rehabilitation of regulated infrastructure — with TCEQ plan review submission and approval coordination.
6. Community Infrastructure Rehabilitation
Complete water infrastructure rehabilitation for existing residential communities, manufactured home communities, and older utility districts — replacing deteriorated water mains, service connections, meters, and appurtenances with phased construction that maintains water service to residents throughout the construction period.
THE details
Most civil engineers design water mains from textbooks and software. Gustavo Gonzalez, P.E. designed them after years of running the systems they serve.
As Director of Water Operations for the City of Corpus Christi, Gonzalez managed 150 employees responsible for operating and maintaining a water supply, treatment, and distribution system that served the entire Coastal Bend Region — including a 150 MGD treatment plant, two reservoirs with combined storage of 1 million acre-feet, and a distribution network supplying over 115,000 acre-feet annually to 500,000+ people. His achievements included NELAC laboratory accreditation, drought management plan revision, and identifying $70 million in CIP cost savings through strategic project review and TCEQ coordination.
He also worked directly with SAWS and the City of San Antoniomanaging utility infrastructure programs — giving GGE an institutional understanding of how SAWS Engineering evaluates design submissions and what they require before approving connections to their system.
Design the Systems That Carry Every Drop That Matters.
The Process
ASSESSMENT
Every water system engagement begins with a thorough assessment of the existing distribution infrastructure and the demands the new or rehabilitated system must serve. GGE reviews available as-built records, field-verifies existing main sizes, materials, and valve configurations, evaluates current pressure and flow performance, and performs hydraulic demand analysis for the proposed service area — calculating domestic demand, peak hour demand, and required fire flow for each zone and occupancy type served. For rehabilitation projects, GGE inspects the condition of existing mains and appurtenances to determine which components can be rehabilitated versus replaced. This phase establishes the engineering foundation for all subsequent design decisions.
ENGINEERING DESIGN
Using demand analysis results, GGE performs hydraulic analysis to size distribution mains for adequate pressure under all design flow conditions — domestic service at peak hour demand, fire suppression at maximum required fire flow, and future growth demand for phased developments. Main alignment is designed to avoid conflicts with existing underground utilities identified through Texas 811 locates. Construction plans are prepared to SAWS standard details, including pipe material and class specifications, valve and fitting schedules, service connection details, fire hydrant locations and spacing per SAFD requirements, and trench and bedding specifications. All plans are sealed by Gustavo Gonzalez, P.E.
AGENCY REVIEW
GGE submits the completed design package to SAWS Engineering for plan review, manages the review comment process, prepares written responses to SAWS comments, and coordinates resubmittals to achieve SAWS plan approval. For systems meeting the TCEQ Public Water System threshold, GGE prepares the TCEQ plan review submission concurrently with SAWS review, tracking both agency reviews in parallel to minimize the overall approval timeline. Where water mains cross or run within TxDOT rights-of-way, GGE prepares the TxDOT utility permit application and coordinates TxDOT approval before construction. GGE manages all agency interfaces from a single point of contact — the client receives one update, not three separate status calls with three separate agencies.
CONSTRUCTION & CLOSEOUT
During construction, GGE provides construction administration — reviewing contractor submittals and shop drawings, responding to RFIs, conducting periodic site observations, and coordinating with SAWS field inspection staff. Following main installation, GGE coordinates the SAWS-required pressure testing and bacteriological sampling that must pass before the system can be activated. GGE prepares record drawings documenting as-built conditions — including final main alignments, valve locations, and service connection positions — and delivers the complete closeout package to SAWS and the client. For bond-funded projects, GGE prepares the documentation required by the funding authority demonstrating that the work was completed per approved plans and within budget.
Why Choose GGE'S water supply systems experience?
Operations Depth
SAWS* Relationship
TCEQ Compliance
Integrated Engineering
Phased Construction
Fire Flow Integration
frequent QUESTIONS
A public water supply system is the engineered network of infrastructure — water mains, service lines, storage tanks, pump stations, pressure zones, meters, valves, and fire hydrants — that delivers treated potable water from a utility source to homes, businesses, and fire suppression infrastructure within a service area. In San Antonio and Bexar County, SAWS (San Antonio Water System) operates the dominant public water supply system, and all new connections, extensions, and improvements within SAWS service territory must be designed to SAWS engineering standards.
Engineering a public water supply system involves:
- Demand analysis: Calculating domestic, commercial, and fire flow demands for the service area across all design scenarios — average day, peak hour, and maximum daily plus fire flow
- Hydraulic analysis: Sizing mains and pressure zones to deliver adequate pressure (typically 35–80 psi) and flow at all service points under all demand conditions
- Design and construction plans: PE-sealed plans showing pipe alignment, size, material, valve and appurtenance locations, service connections, and fire hydrant placement
- TCEQ compliance: For systems meeting the Public Water System threshold, plans must comply with 30 TAC Chapter 290 and receive TCEQ plan approval before construction
- SAWS coordination: Plans must meet SAWS Engineering standards, receive SAWS plan approval, and be constructed by SAWS-qualified contractors under SAWS inspection
- Testing and activation: New mains must pass SAWS pressure testing and bacteriological sampling before being activated and connected to the distribution system
In Texas, all water system designs that connect to or create a Public Water System must be prepared and sealed by a licensed Professional Engineer. GGE’s principal engineer brings not just PE credentials but operational management of one of South Texas’s largest regional water systems — experience that directly improves the quality of every water system design GGE produces.
A development project in San Antonio requires new water main engineering whenever the existing distribution system cannot serve the proposed development with adequate pressure, flow capacity, or fire protection. Common triggers include:
- New subdivisions: Subdivision developments require looped water distribution systems or extensions to reach all proposed lots — loop requirements ensure that no single main break can isolate a section of the development from the system
- Commercial and multifamily developments: Developments that exceed the capacity of the existing meter connection require main upgrades or new service connections engineered to the required flow rate
- Fire protection deficiencies: Developments where the nearest fire hydrant does not meet SAFD minimum spacing or where available fire flow is insufficient for the proposed occupancy — the most common reason development projects in older San Antonio neighborhoods require water main engineering
- Water service extensions: New development located beyond the end of an existing SAWS main requires engineering of the extension from the existing main terminus to the development, including all appurtenances and the TxDOT utility permit if crossing state highway ROW
- Infrastructure rehabilitation: Older community water systems — particularly manufactured home communities, older residential subdivisions, and utility districts — whose aging mains are producing inadequate pressure, frequent breaks, and water quality complaints
- New utility districts: Special utility districts formed to serve areas outside existing SAWS service territory require complete TCEQ-regulated public water system engineering from source through distribution
The most common — and most consistently underestimated — water main trigger in San Antonio development is fire flow inadequacy. Many older neighborhood infill sites and corridor redevelopment projects discover during the SAFD review process that existing mains are too small or too deteriorated to deliver required fire flow for the proposed occupancy. GGE recommends commissioning fire flow testing and a preliminary water system adequacy analysis early in the project design phase — before permit drawings are complete — to identify and cost-plan any required improvements before they become surprises.
SAWS (San Antonio Water System) is the public utility responsible for water distribution within the City of San Antonio and most of Bexar County. Any new water main, service connection, meter installation, fire hydrant, or water system improvement within SAWS service territory must pass through a specific coordination and approval process:
- Design to SAWS standards: Plans must conform to SAWS Engineering Design Standards and include SAWS standard details for pipe materials, trench sections, valve types, and service connections
- SAWS Engineering plan review: Completed designs are submitted to SAWS Engineering for technical review — SAWS reviewers check hydraulic adequacy, standard compliance, and constructability
- SAWS plan approval: SAWS must approve the plans before a building permit can be issued and before construction can begin — SAWS review cycles typically take 3–6 weeks per submission
- SAWS-qualified contractor: All water main work within SAWS territory must be performed by a contractor on SAWS’s approved contractor list — general contractors who are not SAWS-qualified cannot self-perform water main work
- SAWS construction inspection: SAWS field inspectors observe construction to verify compliance with approved plans and SAWS standards
- Pressure testing and bacteriological sampling: Before any new main is activated, it must pass a SAWS-witnessed pressure test and bacteriological sampling — two successive clean samples are required before connection to the live system
- As-built record drawings: SAWS requires as-built drawings documenting the final installed configuration for their GIS and system records
GGE completed all of these steps for the ROC USA community water distribution system replacement — obtaining all SAWS approvals, passing all pressure and bacteriological testing requirements, and delivering as-built records to SAWS within the project budget and schedule.
SAWS review cycles are the most common source of timeline risk on San Antonio water infrastructure projects. GGE mitigates this risk by submitting complete, SAWS-standard-compliant plans on first submission — reducing the probability of review comments requiring resubmittal and an additional 3–6 week review cycle.
TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) regulates all Public Water Systems in Texas under 30 TAC Chapter 290 — the rules that govern design, construction, operation, and monitoring of water systems that serve the public. A water system is classified as a Public Water System if it serves 25 or more people for at least 60 days per year.
30 TAC Chapter 290 establishes engineering design requirements for:
- Pipe materials and pressure ratings — minimum wall thickness, material standards, and pressure class for different service conditions
- Flow velocity limits — maximum velocities to prevent water hammer and erosion in distribution mains
- Minimum pressure requirements — 35 psi minimum at all service connections under all demand conditions
- Disinfection requirements — chlorination systems, minimum residual disinfectant levels, and sampling points
- Backflow prevention — air gaps and backflow preventers at cross-connections and non-potable water sources
- Corrosion protection — cathodic protection for metallic mains in corrosive soils
- Separation distances — minimum horizontal and vertical separation from wastewater mains
Projects that trigger TCEQ plan review requirements include new community water systems outside SAWS service territory, significant expansions of existing systems serving 25+ people, and rehabilitation of regulated components. TCEQ plan review typically takes 60–90 days and must be completed before construction begins.
Gonzalez, P.E. achieved NELAC Institute laboratory accreditation for the Corpus Christi water system and coordinated $70 million in CIP cost savings through TCEQ review — giving GGE’s TCEQ submissions practical compliance depth that firms without utility operations backgrounds cannot replicate.
The fundamental difference between an engineer who designs water systems and an engineer who has operated them is this: design experience teaches how systems perform in a hydraulic model; operational experience teaches how they perform in the ground, under demand fluctuations, through material failures, and across decades of South Texas climate conditions.
Our engineer’s operational record includes managing a 150 MGD treatment plant, overseeing a regional distribution network serving 500,000+ people, achieving NELAC laboratory accreditation, revising a city drought management plan, and identifying $70 million in CIP cost savings through strategic review and TCEQ coordination. That history translates to better water system designs in specific, concrete ways:
- Pipe material selection: Operational experience with material failures in South Texas soil conditions — including the corrosion patterns specific to regional soil chemistry and the mechanical behavior of different pipe materials in expansive clay — informs material specifications that design-only engineers frequently underspecify
- Pressure zone design: Understanding how pressure zone boundaries behave during peak demand events and emergency conditions leads to more robust pressure zone design than hydraulic modeling alone produces
- Looping requirements: Knowing which system configurations produce operational problems — pressure dead ends, water age issues, fire flow degradation — translates to distribution systems designed with practical redundancy, not just minimum code compliance
- SAWS review preparation: Understanding how utility operations staff evaluate design submissions — what they look for, what they reject, and what documentation they require — produces submissions that pass review on the first cycle rather than cycling through multiple comment rounds
- Rehabilitation sequencing: Experience managing infrastructure rehabilitation in occupied communities produces phasing plans that work in the field, not just on paper
GGE’s water system designs are reviewed by the same engineer who spent years managing a system large enough to surface every failure mode that water distribution networks produce. Every design decision reflects that operational perspective — not just the hydraulic model and the codebook.
