San Antonio Water Leader Named "Imagineer of the Year"

Tom Moreno, General Manager and CEO of Bexar Metropolitan Water District in Bexar County and San Antonio was recently named one of the Imagineers of the Year by the Mind Science Foundation. The Foundation defines the term "imagineer" as an individual who harnesses his or her imagination to engineer new visions for us all.

Moreno has made water history in San Antonio. The award was based on Moreno’s years of planning and implementation of the first alternative, state-of-the-art water source for San Antonio. Prior to this, San Antonio depended solely on the Edwards Aquifer as its water source.

Brought online in December of 1999, the plant is presently producing 9 million gallons of water a day with a potential of processing 27 million gallons a day from the Medina River. This second water source has saved the pumping of over two billion gallons of Edwards Aquifer water.

According to Moreno, "Knowing that we live in a semi-arid climate and observing the growth of the area, I realized 16 years ago that we needed to look for alternatives to our one source from the Edwards Aquifer. The growth of our District and the development of technology enabled us to build and design, with United Water, our state-of-the-art membrane filter system."

Bexar Metropolitan Water District serves more than 250,000 customers in urban and rural areas in and around San Antonio. The district was established in the 1930’s by the Texas Legislature to serve the unserved and underserved area residents.

Source: Bexar Metropolitan Water District