About Austin Water
Austin Water has delivered safe, reliable drinking water for more than 100 years.
Austin's first organized water system began in 1871, when a private company pumped water from the Colorado River under a franchise granted by the City. In 1893, the 60-foot Austin Dam was completed in hopes that cheap hydroelectricity would attract business. The dam failed catastrophically on April 7, 1900, flooding and destroying parts of the city. The City of Austin then bought out the private water company and formed what is now Austin Water.
Austin Water's first wastewater treatment facility opened in 1919. In 1923, Dr. E.P. Schoch, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, developed a lime-based chemical treatment for river water. The first water treatment plant was built in 1925 to use his method. In 1937, Austin Water opened a new wastewater treatment plant using activated sludge — an innovative process for its time.
Today, we serve more than 1 million people across more than 548 square miles in the Austin area.
Treatment Facilities
Austin Water has three water treatment plants: Handcox, Davis, and Ullrich. They draw water from the Colorado River, filter and treat it according to federal and state standards to provide safe drinking water for our community.
Walnut Creek and South Austin Regional are Austin Water's two wastewater treatment plants. These sites can receive and treat up to 150 million gallons of sewage per day before the effluent is safely returned to the Colorado River or recycled for irrigation and other non-drinking purposes in our reclaimed water system. Austin Water's biosolids facility at Hornsby Bend receives sludge generated by treatment processes at the wastewater plants and uses it to create compost, known as Dillo Dirt, for land application and public sales.
For tours of our treatment plants, please review the schedule and guidelines on our facilities tour page and submit a request form.
Infrastructure
Austin Water maintains more than 4,000 miles of water and wastewater pipes across our service area. As Austin's population increases, our pipeline renewal programs replace aging infrastructure to reduce water loss and improve reliability for the needs of the future.
Conservation
Austin's culture of water conservation and environmental stewardship shapes everything we do. Our conservation programs offer rebates, tools, free water use audits and other resources to help residents and businesses use water efficiently. Our Water Forward plan outlines an integrated strategy for meeting the community's water needs over the next 100 years, accounting for the demands of population growth, drought and potential climate change scenarios.
Awards and Recognition
Austin Water's work has earned recognition from leading water industry organizations.
In 2025, the American Water Works Association honored us with the Wendell LaDue Utility Safety Award and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies recognized us with the Sustainable Water Utility Management Award. Also in 2025, our Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant earned the Platinum Peak Performance Award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies.
In 2022, our South Austin Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant was named Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant of the Year by the Water Environment Association of Texas. In 2020, Austin Water earned the Utility of the Future Today recognition from the Water Environment Federation, Water Research Foundation, WateReuse and National Association of Clean Water Agencies.