June 2022 Newsletter

The recent release of Bill and Rosemarie Alley's "The Water Recycling Revolution: Tapping into the Future" brings water recycling in Texas and around the country to a general audience. According to the authors, water recycling has a "bright future in Texas given our state's leadership, progress on the technology, and our changing climate."

Read on to learn more about some Texas utilities featured in the book, the author's thoughts about emerging contaminants, and their upcoming managed aquifer recovery project. 

What was your goal in writing this book? 
Reuse of municipal wastewater has the potential to significantly increase the nation’s available water resources. Our goal was to tell the history, science, and politics of water reuse in an engaging manner accessible to anyone interested in water, the environment, or public health. While there are a number of technically oriented summaries of water reuse, we believe we’ve written the first comprehensive general interest book on the topic.

Which Texas utilities were featured in the book? 
At the outset, we were particularly interested in El Paso, because of its long history of groundbreaking work in potable reuse and desalination. We were surprised to find that El Paso is on track to become the first large city in the Northern Hemisphere to undertake direct potable reuse.

We were already familiar with Big Spring’s direct potable reuse from our earlier book “High and Dry: Meeting the Challenges of the World’s Growing Dependence on Groundwater.”

In addition, we were intrigued and impressed by how Wichita Falls addressed a host of technical and public communication issues to implement direct potable reuse on an emergency basis in 2014. Application of the “One Water” concept at the Blue Hole Primary School in Wimberley and Austin’s onsite water reuse plans were also quite interesting.

Texas Plan to Develop New Water Sources May Not be Sufficient - Can Reuse Fill the Gap?
Wildfires, crop failures, stressed reservoirs, and declining aquifers are all consequences of the drought now covering over 90% of Texas. The National Weather Service has predicted that the drought will last until at least August, and conditions will push further east by then. More than 200 Texas counties have already received crop disaster designations due to extended drought conditions and at least 15 utilities (mostly in the Hill Country) have issued mandatory water use restrictions.

Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, Chair of the Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee, said "We have to start earnestly seeking out other options." Read more. 

Recycled Water Wetlands in North Texas Receives Conservation Award
The John Bunker Sands Wetland Center and Rosewood Ranches were awarded the Texas Leopold Conservation Award, the state's highest honor for private land conservation. Recycled water is filtered through their man-made wetlands, pumped into Lake Lavon, and stored for municipal use by WateReuse Texas member North Texas Municipal Water District. Read more. 

Drought Reaches Crisis Levels in Southwest US, Leading to Water Restrictions and Wildfires
More than 98% of the Southwest was in drought in early May according to the US Drought Monitor, with nearly a quarter of Texas at exceptional drought levels. In Southern California, water district officials announced water restrictions and California's two largest reservoirs were at critically low levels. New Mexico has been fighting the largest wildfire in the US in 2022, which has been burning for 8 weeks. Read more.

EPA Advances Water Reuse Issues
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Water Reuse Interagency Working Group, which is composed of senior officials from 15 federal agencies. The WateReuse Association led a coalition of water utilities, businesses, and other stakeholders to urge the establishment of this important task force and worked to have it enacted as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. View the EPA's Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP) Online Platform for additional collaborative progress updates. 

The EPA has also recently added 5 PFAS chemicals to a screening and removal management list that helps them determine if response or remediation activities are needed. They will continue to develop a proposed PFAS National Drinking Water Regulation for publication in fall 2022, and anticipate finalizing the rule in fall of 2023. Read more.  

Recycled Water Facility to be Built in West Texas
Surge, an independent oil and natural gas company, has entered an agreement with Gravity Water Midstream to install their fourth water recycling facility in the Permian Basin. Read more. 

Noelle George, Managing Director
ngeorge@watereuse.org | (832) 619-9496