September 4, 2018

Countdown to Lift-off:  Join us in Austin for the 33rd Annual WateReuse Symposium

The 33rd Annual WateReuse Symposium is on track to be the most well attended Symposium in nearly a decade with almost 600 water professionals expected to attend the event on September 9-12 at the JW Marriott in Austin, Texas. The Annual WateReuse Symposium is the premier conference on water reuse and features a keynote address by Astronaut Captain Scott Kelly. Onsite registration will be available beginning Sunday, September 9 at 1 p.m.

A robust technical program with four themed tracks will cover the latest in treatment, growing interest in potable reuse, innovations in industrial and commercial applications, and general practice issues related to water recycling. From a business CEO roundtable about the future of the reuse market to a direct potable reuse regulatory panel and a discussion of the federal role in water recycling, plenary sessions will examine federal and state policy, emerging trends, and new opportunities for water reuse around the country.

Make your arrangements today to join us in Austin, Texas!

State Updates and Member Spotlight

Welcome New Members!

The WateReuse Association welcomes the following new members:

• Aquacion Group Inc.
• Biohabitats, Inc
• Dannenbaum Engineering
• Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

California: Agencies Boost Recycled Water Capacity by 60%

The $18.8 million expansion of the Tri-Valley’s largest water recycling plant is complete, allowing for millions of gallons of nonpotable recycled water to flow through purple pipes for large-scale irrigation customers in the region. WateReuse Association members Dublin San Ramon Services District, which owns the plant, and East Bay Municipal Utility District and City of Pleasanton are the partners. The project boosts capacity from 9.7 million gallons per day (mgd) to 16.2 mgd, an increase of nearly 60%. The recycled water is used on golf courses, sports grounds, road medians and school grounds. It displaces potable water, which customers use in their homes. Read More.

California: OCWD Receives $400,000 in Federal Funding for Research

WateReuse Association member the Orange County Water District (OCWD) received two research grants totaling $400,000 from the Bureau of Reclamation Desalination and Water Purification program. The first grant will enable OCWD to conduct pilot-scale testing on closed circuit desalination and forward osmosis as alternate technologies that can be used to recover water from reverse osmosis concentrate. The second research grant will fund a water quality study to determine the occurrence of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and NDMA precursors at OCWD’s advanced wastewater reclamation facility including diurnal trends and efficacy of RO and ultraviolet-advanced oxidation (UV-AOP). Read More.

California: EMWD Receives Agriculture Efficiency Grant for $210,000

WateReuse Association member Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) has received a $210,000 grant from the Bureau of Reclamation to support increased water use efficiencies among its agricultural customers. The grant funding will support real-time online tracking of water use, creating weather-based water budgets for local farms, and the replacement of irrigation infrastructure to more water-efficient devices. A vast majority of local farmland uses recycled water for irrigation. Read More.

Idaho: Boise Teams Up With Local Brewers to Make Beverages from Recycled Water

WateReuse Association member the City of Boise last week became the latest community to use beer to educate the public about purified water with its Pure Water Brew Boise initiative. The city hosted a party with brewers at the Lander Street Water Renewal Facility last Thursday and allowed attendees to taste water treated to drinking water standards, visit a mobile filtration facility, and sample beers and ciders from participating breweries. Boise partnered with WateReuse member Pima County Wastewater Management and used the AZ Pure Water Brew treatment trailer to facilitate the initiative. Read More.

Research Update

WRF Announces Grants for New Water Reuse Research

The Water Research Foundation released a series of requests for proposals last week for research to advance water recycling. The new projects include:

• Considerations and Blending Strategies for Drinking Water System Integration with Alternative Water Supplies (Project 4953)
• Integration of High Frequency Performance Data for Microbial and Contaminant Control in Potable Reuse Systems (Project 4954)
• Indicator Viruses for Advanced Physical Treatment Process Performance Confirmation (Project 4955)
• New Techniques, Tools, and Validation Protocols for Achieving Log Removal Credit across NF and RO Membranes (Project 4958)
• Review of Industrial Contaminants Associated with Water Quality or Adverse Performance Impacts for Potable Reuse Treatment (Project 4960)
• The Use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Metagenomics Approaches to Evaluate Anti-Microbial Resistance, Plant Challenge, Biological Removal Processes (Project 4961)
• Developing a New Foundational Understanding of SAR – Soil Structure Interactions to Provide Management Options for Reclaimed Water Use in Agriculture (Project 4963)

For more information, visit the WRF website.

Conferences and Events

Webcast: Potable Reuse Using Ozone-Biofiltration

Interest in potable reuse is rapidly increasing across the United States, but some utilities are finding proven treatment processes cost prohibitive. Please join us Wednesday, September 26 at 2 p.m. eastern to hear results from a Water Research Foundation and Gwinnett County, Georgia study evaluating an alternative treatment train using two-stage ozone-biofiltration – without reverse osmosis – to achieve potable quality water. The presentation will include the research drivers and background, outline the pilot study objectives, and provide a summary of results from the drinking water pilot as well as the upstream advanced treatment facility.  A cost comparison will be presented showing significant capital and operating cost savings of this non-RO based treatment approach. This research provides valuable information to the water industry by demonstrating the strengths and challenges associated with this non-RO approach to potable reuse, particularly for inland facilities where disposal of RO brine can be cost-prohibitive. Register Now!

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