FAQ Category: Rio Station Spillage

New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) responded to a sanitary sewer overflow early Wednesday morning after a storm system appeared to have caused a temporary power outage at the Rio Bar Screen Facility, located at 470 Rio Lane. The outage resulted in an unauthorized discharge of an estimated 550,000 gallons of wastewater into the Guadalupe River north of Lake Dunlap.    

Lift stations and bar screens help wastewater move safely and efficiently through the collection system. Together, they protect equipment, reduce the risk of blockages and help ensure wastewater reaches the treatment plant for proper treatment before being returned to the environment.

A bar screen is a piece of equipment used in a wastewater system to remove large debris, such as wipes, rags, sticks and other materials, before they can damage pumps or other equipment. It acts like a filter, helping keep the wastewater system operating properly.

A lift station is part of the wastewater system that moves wastewater from lower elevations to higher elevations when gravity alone cannot. Using pumps, lift stations help carry wastewater through underground pipes to a wastewater treatment plant for treatment.

Since the incident, we have begun implementing additional measures to strengthen our systems and reduce the likelihood of a similar event. These actions include identifying critical facilities near environmentally sensitive areas and increasing testing of backup systems. We are also reviewing the planning, communication and approval processes surrounding maintenance activities at critical facilities, increasing testing and verification of backup…

Testing has concluded. Testing consists of taking samples upstream and downstream of impacted area. Samples collected are currently at or below the levels upstream from the impacted area. 

Planned maintenance refers to planned work on infrastructure that is necessary to maintain system reliability, safety, and performance. In many cases, this work must be planned in advance based on contractor availability, system conditions, and operational requirements. In this instance, the maintenance had been planned prior to the storm event and was already underway when conditions changed. 

Yes. Had the alarm system functioned as intended, it would have provided earlier notification to operators, allowing crews to respond sooner. This is one of the key areas being evaluated as part of the post-incident review to strengthen detection and response times in the future. 

The issue was discovered when NBU crews were actively responding to widespread storm-related outages and checking infrastructure. While investigating those impacts, personnel identified that the lift station was without power and the overflow and immediately requested electric and wastewater crews for assistance. 

The UPS system is designed to support communication and alarm functions so that operators are immediately notified of a power loss. In this case, the alarm system did not function as intended, and the issue is being reviewed to determine the specific cause of the failure, including whether it was related to equipment performance, configuration, or storm-related impacts.