FEMA Funding, NYT Groundwater Report, AI for Reverse Osmosis Efficiency

News from the Leading Advocate for Water Reuse

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September 5, 2023

2024 WateReuse Symposium: Proposals Due Next Week

Proposals are due next Thursday, September 14, to speak at the 2024 WateReuse Symposium in Denver, Colorado. Transform your ideas, best practices, and research into a presentation at the premier global conference on water reuse. Spark imagination, encourage dialogue, and drive new solutions for greater adoption of water recycling. With 30-minute presentations, 60-minute panels, poster presentations, and a new Water Reuse Technology Showcase, there are plenty of ways for you to demonstrate your thought leadership and build your professional network with a place on the podium!

Submit Your Proposal Today

Stay tuned for the Symposium’s members-only Super Saver registration launch on September 20!

Washington Updates

WateReuse Member Receives FEMA BRIC Program Award as Part of $1.8 Billion in Resilience Funding

Earlier this month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced $1.8 billion in project selections under their Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. The BRIC Program supports states, local communities, tribes, and territories as they undertake hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks from disasters and natural hazards. FEMA selected two California water recycling projects in their latest funding cycle. WateReuse member Inland Empire Utilities Agency was awarded $46.33 million to use recycled water for outdoor irrigation and groundwater recharge. The project will conserve potable water and increase stored water supplies in the Chino Groundwater basin. The City of Riverbank was awarded $50 million for a project that retrofits current systems with water recycling technologies to recharge groundwater supplies and supply local agriculture. Each of these projects uses water recycling to make California communities more resilient to drought.

U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers Revise “Waters of the U.S.” Definition Following Sackett Supreme Court Ruling

The U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers released a revised definition of “Waters of the United States” following a May 2023 Supreme Court ruling in the Sackett vs EPA case. The revised definition de-emphasizes connections between smaller bodies of water (e.g. streams, tributaries, and wetlands) and larger bodies of water by removing the “significant nexus” test from consideration when identifying waters as federally protected. Following the publication of the revised definition, congressional Republicans voiced their concern that the revisions do not go far enough to conform to the Court decision, while congressional Democrats highlighted how the Court’s ruling will impact clean water and the environment and signaled that they would seek to intervene to reestablish protections. EPA will be hosting a webinar on September 12 from 3pm – 4pm ET to discuss the change in definition further.

State Updates and Member News

Welcome New WateReuse Member!

The WateReuse Association and WateReuse Florida welcome Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District. The Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District preserves and protects the delicate ecosystem of the Florida Keys while providing exceptional customer service. The District has applied for a planning grant and budgeted funds for a demonstration project to produce potable water from treated effluent. The District previously won the prestigious Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Award of Excellence and the Florida Rural Water Association’s Medium Wastewater Plant.

Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District

CA: WateReuse California Provides Comments on Direct Potable Reuse Regulations

Last week, WateReuse California (WRCA) submitted formal comments to the California State Water Resources Control Board regarding the state’s most recent draft Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) regulations. The letter thanks the State Board for making improvements to the draft regulations based on the past two years of feedback and partnership from WRCA. It also makes suggestions to ensure a robust and effective final rule, including: a broad alternatives clause, flexibility on required operator certification, and a unified approach to CEC monitoring. WRCA is also organizing a panel presentation for the State Water Board at its September 7 workshop on the DPR regulations. Join and listen starting at 10:30am PT/1:30pm PT, September 7, using this link.

Read the Letter

Southwest Strategies Invests in Water Reuse Communications Leader Katz & Associates

Public affairs firm Southwest Strategies is investing in and partnering with Katz & Associates (K&A), a longtime WateReuse Association member and respected public infrastructure communications firm in California. “The opportunity to collaborate with Southwest Strategies is incredibly exciting for our team and positions us collectively for future growth,” said K&A Founder and CEO Sara M. Katz. “Being acquired by SWS helps us to provide our clients with an even broader array of award-winning services, and our team members with more opportunities for professional growth and development.”

Water Reuse in the News

U.S. Groundwater Depletion: is Water Reuse a Solution?

Last week, the New York Times published the results of an in-depth data investigation showing that groundwater reserves are being drained at dangerous rates nationwide. The report highlights how falling groundwater levels – not just in the West but in places like Kansas, Arkansas, New York, and Maryland – are impacting development, causing land subsidence, and reducing agricultural yields. The Times mentions WateReuse member Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s SWIFT project as a bulwark against saltwater intrusion. Managed aquifer recharge with recycled water offers an important part of the solution to this looming crisis.

Onsite Reuse and Stormwater Retention: Smart Ways to Make Cities Better

Bloomberg Businessweek published a special Cities Issue featuring "9 Smart Ways to Make Cities Better." One of the solutions is onsite water reuse in large buildings, featuring an interview with Aaron Tartakovsky, CEO of Epic Cleantec . Another solution highlighted is permeable urban landscape design and stormwater retention facilities, explained by Kotchakorn Voraakhom, CEO of Bangkok-based architecture firm Landprocess and the Porous Cities Network.

Lessons from Namibia for the Colorado River

Veza, a publication of the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, published a history of 55 years of direct potable reuse in Windhoek, Namibia, and presented possible lessons for U.S. communities that rely on the Colorado River. The article outlines many of the challenges and benefits of direct potable reuse and highlights how Namibia’s plant can be used as an example during outreach and rulemaking in the United States. When WateReuse member El Paso Water’s Christina Montoya gives presentations and tours about their future Direct Potable Reuse project, “we tell them about Namibia,” she says.

Research Updates

How Our Newest Technology Promises to Meet Our Oldest Challenge

Artificial Intelligence grabs headlines for its ability to mimic, in its own distinctive way, human expression, from writing to artwork. However, its most important applications venture beyond generative AI to address challenges that have confronted humankind since the dawn of civilization, like safe and reliable fresh water. Research supported by the United States Department of Energy’s National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) is applying AI and machine learning to potable water reuse to reduce energy and chemical use, improve operational support, increase treatment system uptime, and improve confidence in purified water quality. Research partners include WateReuse members Carollo Engineers, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, Orange County Water District, West Basin Municipal Water District, and Yokogawa Corporation.

Industrial Water Reuse Champion Awards

Submissions Due September 15, 2023

The Industrial Water Reuse Champions award recognizes top Fortune 1000 companies that incorporate the best-in-class water recycling and reuse programs to improve water stewardship and achieve their water management goals. The awards will be presented at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Sustainability, and Circular Economy Summit in October. Are you a large industrial water user employing water reuse, or is one of your clients or customers? If so, act now and nominate an awardee.

Nominate Today

WateReuse Events and Webcasts Calendar

Navigating the PFAS Waters from a Water Reuse Perspective

September 13, 2023
9 am PT | 12 pm ET (1 hour 30 minutes)
Free to WateReuse members

U.S. EPA has proposed the first-ever National Primary Drinking Water Regulation to limit six PFAS chemicals and is also proposing to designate both PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances” under CERCLA, commonly known as Superfund. As the regulatory framework is finalized, what is the current thinking on how best to monitor, manage, and treat PFAS from a water reuse perspective? How will current and future uses of recycled water, such as irrigation and direct/indirect potable reuse, be impacted by the proposed requirements? What PFAS-related concerns might Florida end users have when using recycled water? This webcast will cover the PFAS challenges from regulatory, agriculture, and utility perspectives in Florida.

Design Build: Delivering Water Reuse Projects, Together

September 20, 2023
1 pm PT | 4 pm ET (1.5 hours)
Free to WateReuse members

The WateReuse Association is partnering with the Water Collaborative Delivery Association (WCDA) to provide a detailed overview how the design-build delivery approach can benefit water reuse projects. In some cases, a design-build approach can provide reduced risk, a streamlined project delivery schedule, and cost certainty. This webcast will present the spectrum of collaborative delivery options and walk through the methodology for assessing if design-build makes sense for your project, including an overview of the procurement processes. Utilities from California, Florida, and Texas will share their experiences.

Partner Webcast: Water Research Foundation - Impediments and Incentives for Agricultural Reuse

September 26, 2023
10 am PT | 1 pm ET (1 hour)

Agricultural water reuse has the potential to increase the resilience of water and agricultural systems through benefits such as irrigation enhancement, nutrient management, water supply diversification, and compliance with water quality permits. The most successful agricultural water reuse projects invariably address multiple objectives and deliver co-benefits to diverse stakeholders. This webcast will be based on WRF project 4956, Addressing Impediments and Incentives for Agricultural Reuse, and features a guidebook highlighting specific strategies for addressing barriers to agricultural water reuse.

Germany’s Approach to Water Reuse for Agricultural and Landscape Irrigation

October 10, 2023
8 am PT | 11 am ET | 5:00 pm CET (1.5 hours)
Free to WateReuse members

Despite Germany’s temperate climate and history of adequate water resources, the country is experiencing droughts and extreme weather trends as a result of climate change. Germany’s increasing interest in employing water reuse for agricultural and landscape irrigation can serve as a model for other temperate regions facing these trends. Join us to learn about reuse in Germany, including initiatives which have existed for decades, future outlooks for reuse in Germany, and the recent European Water Reuse Regulation (2020/741) which went into effect in June 2023. Our panel of research and utility experts will also present ongoing research related to non-potable reuse of municipal wastewater for agricultural and landscape irrigation.

Are We Ready for Next Generation Potable Reuse Projects?

December 14, 2023
10 am PT | 1 pm ET (1 hour)
Free to WateReuse members

This webcast will explore what the next generation of water and resource recovery facilities will look like, and the steps that we need to take to develop the future of potable reuse. Our panel of experts will lay out how and where we can incorporate technical innovations into potable reuse treatment facilities to make them more robust, resilient, and sustainable. The panelists will discuss reducing carbon footprint, recovering heat and material, contributing to the circular economy, and creating public and private partnership opportunities.