Conroe Wastewater Experience Built for What’s Next

Firsthand Knowledge of Conroe. Experience to Plan What’s Next.

For 15 years, LAN has supported the City of Conroe as its wastewater infrastructure and treatment needs have evolved. Our experience spans wastewater planning, treatment capacity, permitting, facility design, rehabilitation and construction.

Today, that firsthand knowledge is backed by wastewater treatment experience across Texas, giving our team both the local context and technical perspective to help Conroe evaluate what comes next.

Explore our experience.

Aerial view of a wastewater treatment plant with circular and rectangular tanks surrounded by green trees and grass.

Understanding Conroe’s System — and the Decisions Behind It

15 Years

Supporting Conroe’s wastewater infrastructure

10 → 12 MGD

Southwest WWTP permitted capacity increase

$20M

Estimated major construction avoided through Southwest WWTP optimization

6 → 12 MGD

Central WWTP designed for future expansion

Building on the Original Design

LAN designed the original Conroe Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, giving our team firsthand knowledge of the facility’s activated sludge process, hybrid configuration, hydraulics and site constraints.

Our team also understands the alternatives considered during the original design, including provisions for potential future process conversion, and the technical, operational and cost considerations behind those decisions.

That knowledge extends to the plant’s permitting history and regulatory considerations. Rather than recreating previous evaluations, our team can begin with an understanding of how the existing facility was designed, why previous decisions were made and how future improvements may interact with the plant.

Protecting Conroe’s Investment

Aerial view of a water treatment facility with labeled sections: Treatment Processes, Plant Hydraulics, Site Constraints, and Future Flexibility, surrounded by trees and power lines.

Cost control is most effective when it begins before construction.

On the Conroe Central WWTP, LAN worked with the contractor to reduce construction cost from $64.5 million to $59.7 million, bringing the project within the City’s $60 million budget.

Detailed design and quality control continued through delivery, helping limit construction change orders to approximately 0.3% of construction cost.

Meet the Team

  • A smiling man in a black suit, grey shirt, standing against a grey background and smiling.

    Jordon Thomas-Harris, PE

    Project Manager

    Jordon Thomas-Harris, PE, is a Project Manager with 12 years of wastewater experience spanning collection systems, lift stations, treatment facilities, hydraulic analysis, permitting, and process-mechanical design. He is a Texas Professional Engineer and holds NASSCO Manhole Assessment Certification Program, Pipeline Assessment Certification Program, and Lateral Assessment Certification Program certifications.

    For the City of Conroe Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, Jordon served as Project Engineer for the new 6.0-MGD facility, expandable to 12.0 MGD, supporting the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permit, caisson influent lift station and force main design, plant yard piping, process drainage, and hydraulic analysis to maintain gravity flow through the plant

  • Professional headshot of a man in a business suit, wearing a blue shirt and a gray patterned tie, standing in an office corridor with yellow walls and windows.

    Jeremy Nakashima, PE

    Senior Technical Advisor

    Jeremy Nakashima, PE, brings more than 30 years of experience in wastewater collection, pumping, and treatment systems, with expertise in new facilities, rehabilitation, expansion, hydraulic design, and quality assurance and quality control from planning through construction.

    For the City of Conroe, he served as Technical Lead and Quality Assurance/Quality Control Manager for the 6.0-MGD Central WWTP, including anaerobic digestion evaluations and sizing criteria, and led design and quality reviews for sludge dewatering and secondary-clarifier flow-splitting improvements at the 10.0-MGD Southwest Regional WWTP.

  • Man with brown hair and mustache, wearing a grey suit with a colorful tie, standing in a hallway with items hanging on the wall

    Bill Schlafer, PE, PMP

    Quality Control Lead

    Bill Schlafer, PE, PMP, brings 42 years of civil and environmental engineering experience, including wastewater treatment plant analysis and design, sanitary sewer improvements, collection systems, lift stations, permitting, and construction-phase services.

    For the City of Conroe, he managed the Central WWTP, a new facility with an initial 6.0-MGD phase and 12.0-MGD ultimate capacity, and Southwest Regional WWTP improvements that replaced aging equipment and reduced average monthly energy usage by 25%.

  • Portrait of a man with white hair and glasses in a business suit smiling in an office setting with glass walls.

    Paul Wood, PE

    Lead Process Engineer

    Paul Wood, PE, is LAN’s Lead Process Engineer with 40 years of experience analyzing, designing, and managing municipal and industrial wastewater treatment projects, including biological treatment, process modeling, hydraulic computations, equipment selection, plant expansions, and disinfection systems.

    For the City of Conroe, he served as Treatment Lead for the 6.0-MGD Central WWTP, planned for an ultimate capacity of 12.0 MGD, and led improvements to the 10.0-MGD Southwest Regional WWTP that reduced monthly energy use by 25% and supported re-rating the facility to 12.0 MGD average daily flow.

  • A professional woman with curly hair, wearing a blue blouse and black blazer.

    Melissa Mack, PE, PMP

    Principal-in-Charge

    Melissa Mack, PE, PMP, has 25 years of engineering experience in water and wastewater infrastructure, with strengths in hydraulic modeling, master planning, pump station design, transient analysis, and project management.

    For the City of Conroe, she served as Principal-in-Charge for the Central WWTP, a new 6.0-MGD facility planned for an ultimate capacity of 12.0 MGD, leading value engineering and contractor-selection support; she also managed the City’s 2016 and 2022 Water Master Plans.

Better Treatment Decisions Start With the People Who Operate the Plant

The people who operate a wastewater treatment facility every day bring an important perspective to decisions about its future.

LAN uses technical workshops to help owners compare alternatives and understand trade-offs related to treatment performance, capital cost, operations and maintenance, constructability and long-term needs.

Plant operators are actively involved throughout design. When appropriate, LAN also coordinates visits to comparable facilities and equipment installations, allowing City staff to speak directly with peer operators about equipment performance, maintenance requirements, operational benefits and lessons learned.

A three-step informational graphic about a plant tour. Step 1 shows a man giving a presentation about technical workshops, with a large screen displaying a map and industrial equipment. Step 2 features two plant staff members in safety gear discussing operations outdoors near water facilities. Step 3 depicts a group of visitors in hard hats on a platform overlooking industrial equipment, engaging in peer facility tours.

Project Gallery

  • An aerial view of a wastewater treatment plant.

    Conroe Central Wastewater Treatment Plant | City of Conroe

    AN designed the 6-MGD greenfield Conroe Central WWTP with infrastructure and treatment considerations supporting future expansion to 12 MGD. The project included influent pumping, headworks, aeration, clarification, UV disinfection and supporting systems. LAN’s longstanding knowledge of the facility provides firsthand understanding of its treatment processes, hydraulics, site constraints and original design decisions.

    6 MGD Initial Capacity | 12 MGD Ultimate Capacity | ~0.3% Construction Change Orders

  • Aerial view of a full wastewater treatment plant, surrounded by grass and trees.

    Southwest Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant | City of Conroe

    LAN evaluated the existing 10-MGD Southwest WWTP to identify opportunities to increase treatment capacity using existing infrastructure. Process modeling, hydraulic evaluations and targeted improvements supported an increase in permitted capacity to 12 MGD while avoiding an estimated $20 million in major construction. Improvements also contributed to an average 25% reduction in monthly energy use.

    10 → 12 MGD Permitted Capacity | $20M Estimated Major Construction Avoided | 25% Average Monthly Energy Reduction

  • Pirates Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant Replacement | City of Galveston

    LAN designed a replacement for the aging Pirates Beach WWTP within a constrained 1.25-acre site. The new facility provides 0.5 MGD average daily flow capacity and was planned for future expansion to 1.5 MGD, with 4.5 MGD peak wet-weather capacity. The design addressed treatment, operational and site constraints while maintaining service during implementation.

    0.5 MGD Initial Capacity | 1.5 MGD Future Capacity | 4.5 MGD Peak Wet-Weather Flow

  • Airport Wastewater Treatment Plant | City of Galveston

    LAN designed improvements that increased treatment capacity from 3.75 to 4.76 MGD while addressing Hurricane Ike damage and upgrading the facility to meet applicable TCEQ design criteria. Improvements included aeration, clarification and UV-related infrastructure, with the plant remaining operational throughout construction. The project was completed on schedule and within budget.

    3.75 → 4.76 MGD Capacity | Operational Throughout Construction | On Schedule & Within Budget

  • N.B. Davidson Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion | City of Huntsville

    LAN designed improvements to restore reliability at the aging facility and increase peak-flow treatment capacity to 6.5 MGD. Improvements include expanded influent pumping, new headworks, conversion to sequencing batch reactor treatment, cloth media filtration, UV disinfection and solids dewatering. LAN worked with plant operators to establish priorities and developed the design to maintain full plant operations during construction.

    6.5 MGD Peak-Flow Capacity | SBR Treatment Conversion | Full Operations Maintained