April 29, 2024

Amid Earth Week, the White House hosted a Clean Water Summit to announce a new collaboration between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Indian Health Service. This Memorandum of Understanding is focused on bringing about more robust support for water infrastructure projects, planning, and design for Tribal communities. A request for proposals for Tribal Domestic Water Supply will remain open until Fall 2024. Eligible projects will be focused on improving domestic water supply through infrastructure investments including storage and desalination.

Last week, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) announced 34 projects that received funding under WaterSMART’s Planning and Project Design Grants program. The funding covers water strategy planning, project design, and drought contingency planning, most of which include water recycling, reuse, or recharge. Of the 34 selections, seven are WateReuse members. We extend our congratulations to the City of Long Beach (CA), City of Stockton (CA), East Valley Water District (CA), Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (CA), Indio Water Authority (CA), Western Municipal Water District of Riverside County (CA), and Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (NM). The second round of applications for this grant (FY24) are due by May 21, 2024.

WateReuse member City of Phoenix’s effort to send ultra-purified recycled water directly to taps could be among the largest in the world. Last week, Arizona Republic reported that nine other Arizona cities: El Mirage, Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Scottsdale, Surprise, and Tempe, plus EPCOR, a private water provider — have expressed interest in participating in a major regional project based in Phoenix. Partner cities would supply wastewater to the treatment plant, and some would need miles of new pipeline to receive the purified water in return, while others might ask to divert some of Phoenix’s Salt River Project or Central Arizona Project water to their treatment plants instead.

WateReuse members Epic Cleantec and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, along with real estate developer Sentral, announced the full operational launch of two large greywater recycling systems in the city. The 467,000 square-foot Chorus and 308,000 square-foot Landing building will both use onsite systems operated by Epic Cleantec. “This expands the City's diversified water recycling portfolio while setting the example for sustainable real estate development in San Francisco,” said Paula Kehoe, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Director of Water Resources and Chair of the National Blue Ribbon Commission for Onsite Non-potable Water Systems.

WateReuse member PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, is co-hosting the 10th Singapore International Water Week (SIWW), June 18-22, 2024. The event hosts global leaders and experts from governments, cities, water utilities, agencies, industry, and academia to share and co-create innovative solutions to the world’s urban water and associated climate challenges. PUB manages five NEWater plants across Singapore that produce highly purified recycled water for both non-potable and indirect potable use. Some attendees from the United States received scholarships to travel to SIWW from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and the Water Research Foundation (WRF). WateReuse members who will attend via the scholarship are: Jay Bernas, General Manager of Hampton Roads Sanitation District, VA; Randy Brown, Utilities Director for the City of Pompano Beach, FL; Shivaji Deshmukh, General Manager of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, CA; and Robert Thompson, General Manager of Orange County Sanitation District, CA.

The International Water Association announced recently that Dr. Amy Childress will join as the association’s co-editor in chief for their Water Reuse Journal. Dr. Childress is a thought leader on water reuse research and a professor for WateReuse member University of Southern California. “I am excited to join IWA Publishing’s Water Reuse team. In particular, I look forward to more submissions on potable water reuse,” said Dr. Childress.