CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi Water (CCW) serves more than just Corpus Christi. The district has a responsibility to quench water needs across the Coastal Bend.
Esteban Ramos, Water Resources Manager for CCW explains, "Corpus Christi Water serves nearly 500,000 customer throughout the Coastal Bend, seven counties." Those services include both raw water and treated or potable water.
- Raw water: ground or surface water that is taken directly from its sources
- Treated or potable water: raw water that has been processed to filter out contaminants, sediment, and impurities.
Raw water goes from the source to the customer with no treatment for impurities or contaminants. It's risky to drink. Potable water has been processed into drinking water. A few of the customers who receive water through CCW include: Kingsville, Alice, Beeville, Aransas Pass, Rockport, and more!
So where does the water needed to service the coastal bend come from? The answer is: four places.
"Being Choke Canyon, Lake Corpus Christi— you could look at those these being our main sources of water because they're huge. Choke Canyon is almost twice the size of Lake Corpus Christi," says Ramos. Lake Texana by Edna, Texas and the nearby Colorado River make up the eastern reservoirs.
Raw water from all reservoirs is blended at the O.N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant. As shown in the example below, potable water goes through many filtration steps before it gets to your faucet, making it safe to drink from the tap.
So what happens when our reservoirs experience drought? Next week we'll take a closer look at our reservoirs and the ways each one helps to keep the water running. Have a question for our Water Watch series? Send me an email Stefanie.Lauber@kristv.com
