News: Water Reuse at COP27 & One Year of Infrastructure Investment

News from the Leading Advocate for Water Reuse

View in your browser

November 21, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from WateReuse. Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate and reconnect with family and community. We hope it’s full of good food and good conversation!

The water reuse community has our own opportunity to come together in conversation and celebration: The WateReuse Symposium, March 5-8, 2023 in Atlanta Georgia. Join us there! Register today.

Next Monday, November 28, there won’t be a WateReuse Review newsletter due to the holiday. We’ll see you again on Monday, December 5.

Washington Updates

U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan Celebrates Water Reuse at COP27 in Egypt

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Administrator Michael Regan spoke about water reuse and international collaboration at the COP27 climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The conversation, titled “Water Reuse to Address Climate Challenges,” was hosted at the conference’s Israeli pavilion. “Water reuse is a key climate adaptation tool that can be leveraged to combat flooding and drought,” said Regan. “EPA not only supports the adoption of these innovative solutions but is helping to make them accessible by developing tools and partnerships with the National Water Reuse Action Plan.” Regan also spoke about the recent delegation to Israel led in cooperation with WateReuse Association. The panel also included leaders from the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection, Israeli Water Authority, and Inter-American Development Bank. Watch the video.

WateReuse Celebrates One Year of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package and Water Reuse Funding

Last week marked the one year anniversary of the enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which WateReuse helped shape and pass. The IIJA invests $1 billion over five years in water recycling programs for the Western United States and roughly $48 billion for nationwide water programs that can support water recycling projects. It also established an Interagency Working Group on Water Reuse, which has now formed and met under the leadership of the U.S. EPA. Over the past year, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) swiftly awarded funds through the Title XVI Water Reclamation and Reuse Grants Program and began standing up the newly created Competitive Grant Program for Large-Scale Water Recycling and Reuse Projects.

Looking toward 2023, WateReuse remains committed to working with Congress to fund the Pilot Program for Alternative Water Source Grants, which the IIJA authorized at $125 million over five years. We also look forward to our continued partnership with the Bureau of Reclamation as it implements the Title XVI Program and works toward releasing the first request for proposals for the Large-Scale Water Recycling Projects Grant Program. Read more.

U.S. EPA’s Office of Water Buy America Implementation Memo Leaves Many Questions

As previously reported, U.S. EPA Office of Water released the Build America, Buy America implementation procedures memo building upon the Office of Management and Budget’s original implementation guidance from April 2022. The water community has been awaiting this guidance to support compliance with Buy America.

While the memo provides new programmatic implementation details, it falls short on some essential details. Notably, it fails to provide a timeline for the U.S. EPA waiver approval process or clarity on evaluation criteria. The memo lays out four broad steps for waiver request approval, only putting a timeline on the public comment period following the posting of waiver requests (15 days). The memo clarifies that for indirect assistance programs, such as the State Revolving Funds, a project sponsor must submit the waiver request to their state agency that will in turn submit to U.S. EPA for review and a final decision. We anticipate this process creating significant delays for project-specific waiver approvals. The memo also clarifies the responsibility of assistance recipients in tracking product compliance through signed certification letters from manufacturers and notes the U.S. EPA will not be providing any format or template for certification tracking.

WateReuse engaged with water sector associations this past week to identify next steps in working with the Administration to find an effective way to implement Buy America requirements.

State Updates and Member Profiles

Welcome New Members!

Great Places and Spaces (CA) joins the WateReuse Association and WateReuse California, providing environmentally conscious and collaborative workspaces. These spaces are designed to promote a healthy, productive, and sustainable work environment. Check them out if you are seeking a workspace!

AZ: Water Recycling Video Highlights Tucson’s Successful Reclamation Center

Arizona Public Media highlighted the City of Tucson’s reclaimed water systems last week in a feature clip about water recycling. One of the oldest reclamation systems in the state of Arizona, Tucson delivers between 10,000-14,000 acre-feet of class A recycled water to the community. Director of Tucson Water and WateReuse Association board member John Kmiec, explains how Tucson designed the non-potable pipe system strategically to maximize the number and type of facilities served, including golf courses, parks, and schools. Watch the video.

CO: Official Approval of Direct Potable Reuse Regulations

In the October 24 WateReuse Review we shared that the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) unanimously voted to provide preliminary approval to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s proposed Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) regulations. This week, WQCC gave the regulations final approval. The regulations provide a helpful guide to the state’s utilities about the process for adopting a DPR system. This groundbreaking achievement was made possible by the engagement and advocacy of WateReuse Colorado and its members. Tyson Ingels, the lead drinking water engineer on staff at the WQCC, shared his sentiments, “I’m really proud of the amount of collaboration and good will from stakeholders and professionals … we really relied on a lot of expertise from them.” Read more.

Research Update

Research Finds Potable Reuse Can be More Dependable and Higher Quality than Tap Water

Stanford professor Dr. William Mitch recently published a study comparing conventional drinking water samples to recycled water treated for potable reuse. “We expected that potable reuse waters would be cleaner, in some cases, than conventional drinking water due to the fact that much more extensive treatment is conducted for them,” said Dr. Mitch, “But we were surprised that in some cases the quality of the reuse water, particularly the reverse-osmosis-treated waters, was comparable to groundwater, which is traditionally considered the highest quality water.” The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Water Research Foundation. Read more.

International Update

Rural Water Assessment in Australia Touts Water Reuse Opportunities

Earlier this month, Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) published a wide-ranging report about improving water services to remote communities and closing the gap on water access in Australia. The report reinforces that safe drinking water fundamentally impacts public health and the wellbeing of communities and people. The report finds that circular approaches such as water reuse allow communities to harness more value out of water – especially in rural areas where water access is already more of a challenge. Read more.

WateReuse Member Resources and Benefits

Job Opportunities

Director, Conference & Events
WateReuse Association
Apply here

2022: WateReuse Accomplishments Report

The federal government’s single largest investment in water recycling to date has given reuse a new prominence in our nation’s response to climate crisis. The WateReuse Association and our members are hard at work building a future in which every community uses water recycling to safeguard public health and achieve environmental and economic resilience. See what we’ve achieved together so far in 2022, and the groundwork we are laying for the future.

View 2022 Accomplishments

WateReuse Conferences, Webcasts, and Events

2023 WateReuse Symposium:
Reimagining Water Together

Marriott Marquis Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
March 5-8, 2023

Register Now: Early Bird registration ends December 16

The Annual WateReuse Symposium is the premier conference on water recycling — attracting water professionals and water reuse practitioners globally for knowledge-sharing, networking, and intriguing discussions! The event is planned in collaboration with The Water Research Foundation and will include engaging sessions on the latest reuse-related research projects.

WateReuse is pleased to bring the Symposium to Georgia and the Southeast, a region that is quickly emerging as a water recycling hotspot. Pick from three Atlanta-region tours of cutting-edge reuse projects. Six technical session tracks will highlight how utilities and businesses large and small can benefit from water recycling. Themes for the 2023 WateReuse Symposium include small and underrepresented communities, implications of PFAS in reuse, industrial and commercial reuse, telling the reuse story, and more!

Unsubscribe from WateReuse Review

Opt out of all WateReuse email

610 Madison Street, Suite 101
Box 621
Alexandria, VA 22314
United States