City of Bishop getting cleaner water with new treatment facility

BISHOP, Texas — The City of Bishop is supporting a project to make sure all water is safe and clean moving forward.

Jim Russell knows a thing or two about the water in bishop. He still drinks tap water and said usually it's clean. But that doesn't mean he hasn't ran into problems in the past.

"The problem was I could smell the water and that wasn't good. It smelled like river water," Russell said.

But to reduce problems in all kinds of water in areas like Robstown, Bishop, Driscoll and Banquette, a regional wastewater treatment plant will be built.

"All the wastewater will go through the new wastewater plant. It'll be treated and go through Petronilla Creek and Baffin Bay and the treatment process will help the water," Bishop City Secretary Sal Ochoa said.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said the goal is to improve water quality in Petronilla Creek, which Russell said could use an upgrade.

"I'm sure any improvement from what we have now will be good so I'm looking forward to it," Russell said.

The project won't just help clean water in this area. Ochoa said he expects the city to grow, and with more neighbors, a bigger regional facility is needed.

"There's residential homes that might be coming up, business in the area... with this wastewater plant it will help accommodate that growth," Ochoa said.

The City of Bishop will have a city council meeting sometime this month where Ochoa expects all city council members to show support of the project.