Pipeline

Untreated Water Pipeline & Balancing Reservoir

To move water from the lake, Upper Trinity Regional Water District (UTRWD) has built/is building:

• 32 miles of 66-inch and 72-inch-diameter to carry raw water from the lake to the UTRWD system. This new pipeline will connect the reservoir to an existing pipeline that currently delivers water to UTRWD’s system from Chapman Lake (see below). This existing pipeline has enough available capacity to carry water from Lake Ralph Hall to the UTRWD system.
• A new pump station to move water from the reservoir to treatment.

• A balancing reservoir to provide separation between the pumped and gravity-flow sections of the pipeline. The balancing reservoir is located between the new pump station and the delivery point facility, at one of the higher points along the pipeline.
• A delivery point facility that controls the flow of water from Lake Ralph Hall downstream into the Lake Chapman Pipeline.

Construction on the pipeline began in spring 2023 and was finished in the spring of 2025. On February 4, 2025, Upper Trinity, its contractors and local city/county officials celebrated the extensive collaboration behind the 32-mile water pipeline to deliver water to district members and customers. Project partners were invited to sign a commemorative piece of pipe for future display (see below).

The main structure of the balancing reservoir was completed in the spring of 2026, enabling the whole system to be tested for limited water delivery in late 2026. The delivery point from the new pipe into the pre-existing pipeline is also essentially complete.