Tours & Education

students on a tour of DAF plantThe City of Waco's Water Utility Services Department offers free tours of our facilities for schools, educational organizations and wholesale customers..

Water Treatment Plants
Water treatment plants take raw water from Lake Waco and treat it to make the high-quality drinking water we all expect. Tours of these facilities explain and highlight this process.

Wastewater Treatment Plants
Wastewater treatment plants clean sewage water to return it downstream in the Brazos River. The tour explains and highlights the process through all phases of wastewater treatment.

Lake Waco Wetlands
The Lake Waco Wetlands are a manmade wetland created as part of a habitat mitigation project in 2004. The tour includes a walkthrough of the Research and Education Center, watershed education and a hands-on tour of the Wetlands.

There is also an option to tour all three facilities.

Tour Info

Treatment Plant tours and tours of all facilities are available Tuesday through Friday. A single-facility tour takes about an hour. A tour of all facilities takes about four hours (including travel time).

Wetlands-only tours are available at other times.

Requests should be made at least 14 days in advance. park rangers on a tour of the wetlands

Staff will contact you to finalize your request based on availability.

All tours will begin with safety guidelines for participants to follow.

Limited parking is available at each facility. Carpooling/bus transport is encouraged.

Request a tour

About Your Group

A minimum of five participants are required for a tour to be scheduled. Groups should have no more than 25 participants (adults and students combined).

All participants must sign a release waiver. The waiver will be provided once the tour is scheduled.

A list of participants must be provided two business days before the scheduled tour.

Adult participants will sign in and out of each facility. Teachers or group leaders must have a full attendance roster available.

Participants must be at least 12 years old or in 6th grade to tour the treatment plants.

Adult/Child Ratios

  • Elementary School (Grades K-5): 1 adult for every 5 students
  • Middle School/Junior High (Grades 6-8): 1 adult for every 10 students
  • High School (Grades 9-12): 2 adults per tour
  • College student tours require the instructor to be present for the entire tour

Adult tour participants will be required to provide a photo ID to participate in the tour.

Tours for water/wastewater-related professional organizations or agencies will require approval from the Director of Water Utility Services.

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