April 1, 2019
Washington Update
WateReuse Association Adopts Alternative Water Supply Principles
WateReuse Plans Congressional Briefing During Water Week Fly in
EPA Prioritizes Water Reuse in WIFIA Funding Announcement
WateReuse Association Delivers FY20 Appropriations Requests
Upcoming Congressional Hearings Likely Spotlight Water Recycling
This week, the House of Representatives will hold two important hearings with relevance to water reuse. First, the House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which determines annual funding levels for EPA programs, will hear from EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler regarding the Presidents FY 2020 budget request. Second, the House Natural Resources Committee’s Water Subcommittee will hold a hearing on “The State of Western Water Infrastructure and Innovation.” Vicente Sarmiento, Board President of WateReuse Association member Orange County Water District, will be testifying at the hearing.
State Updates and Member Profiles
Arizona and Colorado Offer Student Scholarships to Support Water Reuse Focus
WateReuse Arizona and WateReuse Colorado both released award opportunities to encourage college students with a water reuse focus. Arizona will award two $2,500 scholarships to Arizona university and college students. WateReuse Coloarda is offering three $1,500 scholarships. The deadline to submit applications for both programs is June 15, 2019. To learn more about the WateReuse Arizona scholarships, click here. To learn more about the WateReuse Colorado scholarships, click here.
California: Pure Water Oceanside Construction Set to Begin this Year
WateReuse Association member the City of Oceanside is ready to begin construction on Pure Water Oceanside, a water purification system that will create 3 to 5 million gallons of drinking water daily. Construction will begin at the end of this year and will finish in 2021. Residents will start receiving the water from this new system in 2022. Oceanside is also expanding its nonpotable recycled water system as part of a plan to reduce the imported water rate from 89 to 44 percent. Read More.
California: WRCA Opposes SB 332 Unless Amended, Applauds AB 1180 Passage Out of Committee
On March 25, WateReuse California submitted a letter to State Senators Robert Hertzberg and Scott Wiener opposing SB 332 unless it is amended significantly to create a framework for achieving attainable goals for promoting water recycling in California, and reducing ocean and bay wastewater discharges. The legislation seeks to reduce wastewater discharge into the ocean. On March 26, AB 1180, a WateReuse California sponsored bill to update non-potable recycled water regulations, passed out of the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee. The bill makes updating California’s Title 22 regulations a higher priority. WateReuse California is asking members to submit letters of support. For more information, contact Jennifer West, Managing Director for WRCA.
Research Update
Winners to Share $80,000 Prize for Ideas to Improve Pathogen Monitoring for Potable Reuse
The Bureau of Reclamation has selected five submissions to share $80,000 in prizes in the Pathogen Monitoring Stage 1 Challenge to develop better pathogen detection and monitoring for potable reuse. WateReuse Association member Xylem, Inc. contributed half of the prize purse. The Water Research Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency were also partners in the competition to seek ideas for the development of a rapid, accurate and preferably online/onsite monitoring techniques for various pathogens at advanced water treatment facilities. Read More.
Conferences and Events
Webcast: Selecting the Best Technology for Water Reuse: Overview of the MBR Process
Is membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology the right solution for your water reuse application? Offering a smaller footprint, smaller price tag, and high quality treatment, MBRs are a compelling solution for advanced water reuse applications. Please join us at April 10 at 2 pm eastern for a webcast that will provide an overview of the MBR process using flat plate MBR membranes. You will learn about the types of membranes and benefits of each, operations, maintenance, and screening. If you are considering an MBR system or maintaining an existing system, this presentation will provide you with a deeper understanding of the MBR process and the information you need to decide if MBR technology makes sense for your facility. Learn More.
Webcast: Bioanalytical Screening Tools for Recycled Water – An Emerging Technology to Assess Complex Mixtures in Aquatic Environments
What’s the next big thing in monitoring recycled water quality? Please join us May 15 at 2 p.m. eastern to learn how In vitro cell-based assays have shown promise as bioscreening tools to assess environmental mixtures and prioritize sites requiring further investigations. These assays are designed to respond to groups of chemicals. As such, they offer an integrative approach to complement conventional chemical and toxicity testing. Learn More.
Register for the 8th Annual Water Reuse in Texas Conference
WateReuse Texas, Water Environment Association of Texas, and Texas American Water Works Association will host the 8th Annual Water Reuse in Texas Conference, May 23-24, in McAllen, Texas. The program will present the latest on operations, financing, planning, and water quality. Pat Sinicropi, Executive Director of WateReuse Association, will provide a keynote discussion on the future of water reuse, Texas’ role as a reuse pioneer, and EPA’s upcoming Water Reuse Action Plan. Learn More.
Save the Date: 34th Annual WateReuse Symposium in San Diego, California
Mark your calendar for the 34th Annual WateReuse Symposium is in San Diego, California on September 8-11, 2019. This year’s theme is “Collaborate to Innovate.” The Symposium will showcase recycled water collaborations among utilities, farmers, and industry; regulators working together at both the state and federal level; sustainability; public/private partnerships; and, for the first time, the latest in reuse research led by the Water Research Foundation. Learn More.
Upcoming Events
Presented in partnership with The Water Research Foundation, this presentation will cover key components of successful onsite non-potable water systems.
Webcast
2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern ; 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pacific
WateReuse Members and WRF Subscribers: Free
Others: $49
PDHs: 1
Across the nation, onsite non-potable water systems (ONWS) are becoming increasingly common as a means to conserve and recycle water. Ensuring consistent implementation is one of the principal challenges for ONWS programs, particularly when multiple, new stakeholders are involved. Water Research Foundation project 4909 sought to identify key knowledge gaps and provide the resources needed to aid in the smooth implementation of ONWS. Through interaction with the National Blue Ribbon Commission for Onsite Non-potable Water Systems, the project team identified common pitfalls that have impacted the design, operation, permitting, and implementation of ONWS.
This presentation will cover key components of a successful ONWS program including: (1) treatment goals that control public health risk, (2) effective design of both treatment and non-treatment (i.e., management) barriers, (3) strategies for effective operation and monitoring of ONWS systems, and (4) frameworks for regulating and permitting ONWS. The goal of this presentation is to convey the importance of stakeholder knowledge for consistent protection of public health at ONWS installations. This information will be presented through a survey of the projects two main deliverables: the comprehensive guidance manual and interactive training modules.
Presenters
- Brian Pecson, Ph.D., P.E., Principal Engineer, Trussell Technologies
- Brie Post, P.E., Senior Engineer, Trussell Technologies
- Paula Kehoe, Director of Water Resources, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Are water recycling utilities well prepared to address the COVID-19 crisis and other potential future risks?
Join Us!
2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern ; 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pacific
WateReuse Members: Free
Others: $49
PDHs: 1
The America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) requires all utilities serving 3,300 or more people to complete a risk and resilience assessment (RRA) for their water systems, followed by the completion of an emergency response plan (ERP). The RRA’s are part of an overall effort to improve the ability of water systems to prepare for and respond to events from water resource limitations to cyber attacks, from extreme weather to an assault on the utility, and from contamination to treatment and distribution infrastructure, among others. In short, it is an all-hazards approach to managing risk.
This webcast will discuss how water reuse interacts with the RRAs and highlight some the ways that risks are viewed and managed from an AWIA perspective. It will also discuss how we are interpreting and acting upon risk in the midst the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and how we can use RRAs to prepare for future risks. This webcast will offer a fresh look at risk and resilience through the lens of preparation and response. The presentation will begin with an overview of AWIA requirements, RRAs, and the role of water reuse in those assessments followed by a focus on risk and risk perceptions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presenters
Dr. Ben Stanford is an Associate Vice President with Hazen and Sawyer in the Denver office where he leads the implementation of innovations in water, wastewater, and water reuse. He is currently leading or supporting over a dozen risk and resilience projects in FL, NC, TX, CO, AZ, and CA.
Dr. Douglas Crawford-Brown is Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was Founding Director of the Institute for the Environment, and at the University of Cambridge, where he was Director of the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research.
Section Meeting & Webinar at Stantec
– featuring Brian Biesemeyer, Scottsdale Water “Arizona’s First Direct Potable Reuse System”