First let’s get to know the person in charge, the Superintendent of the Anthony Water & Sewer District (AWSD). Superintendent Jose Terrones has been working with the AWSD for 12 years now. He was hired back in 2011 as a project manager for the district and was appointed by the board for the Superintendent position when Patrick Banegas retired in 2012. He graduated from NMSU in 1998 with a bachelor’s in civil engineering technology. After graduating he worked for 11 years at an Engineering Firm designing water and wastewater systems before starting his career at AWSD. With all these accomplishments he is very familiar with water and waste treatment plants and the different treatment options. During the last 12 years, he has become state certified water and wastewater operator with the State of New Mexico. Being with the district for 12 years, Mr. Terrones keeps a good solid budget and is able to get grants to help expand the system.
As Superintendent, Mr. Terrones makes sure the treatment operations comply with regulatory standards. The district is regulated by the New Mexico Environment Department and the Environment Protection Agency. The water and wastewater are tested by the two agencies per the licenses the district is issued. The district also does its own internal testing to ensure proper operations are being performed.
The Anthony Water & Sanitation District is a separate government entity from the City of Anthony. They are a special district that was created in 1978 by State Statute. Most cities are recognizing that water and sewer should be an entity of their own. The City of El Paso created the El Paso Water Utility with its own board. The City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County formed the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority to better manage water and sewer needs. But they do need to work together when it comes to repairs, fire hydrants, and expansion.
About your water
The City of Anthony has 6 wells total which are 700 feet deep. There are plans for expansion and to redrill two existing wells. The water they are pumping is in a geological formation that has a lot of minerals, making the hard water. But the Reverse Osmosis plant is up and in operation thanks to funding from the USDA – Rural Development and the EPA – North American Development Bank. There is a pilot study project looking at how they can remove more minerals and look at different water treatment options. This study that was conducted looked at different options of treatment to remove iron and manganese from the water. Always wondered why the water sometimes looked brown or reddish. Or why it smelled like rotten eggs. Well, that is iron causing the color but there is nothing wrong with it, it’s the same iron you would take as a vitamin. As for the smell, that is the manganese when it gets heated up in your hot water heater. To help alleviate this issue there are future plans to construct an Iron/Manganese Water Treatment Plant.
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