Lake Georgetown Zebra Mussel Control

Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District (BCMUD) owns and operates a 10 MGD raw water intake structure on Lake Georgetown and approximately 12 miles of 24-inch diameter raw water pipeline which provides raw surface water to the District’s water treatment plant.

The zebra mussel is a bivalve mollusk found in freshwater lakes and streams. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, twenty- eight Texas lakes (including Lake Georgetown) can be classified as fully infested with zebra mussels. Zebra mussels can result in severe problems for raw water intake structures and pipelines as they can adhere to hard surfaces, which can result in blockage.

BCMUD retained MRB Group, PC (MRB) to provide a study to evaluate options to control the infestation of zebra mussels at the District’s raw water intake in Lake Georgetown and to design appropriate control measures based on the results of this study.

Based on the results of the study, MRB designed the following improvements to the raw water intake facility:

• Installation of an interim chemical feed system to inject a liquid copper sulfate solution into the raw water at the intake vault;
• Replacement of 6 of the 9 intake screens with new screens constructed of a copper alloy;
• Installation of air scour system for the screens;
• Installation of permanent chemical feed facilities to inject a copper ion solution into the raw water at the intake screens

Big Idea

Control infestation of zebra muscles at the District’s raw water intake