November 5, 2018
Washington Update
WateReuse Leads Stakeholders in Urging $250 Million Reauthorization for Title XVI-WINN
WateReuse Association Offers Support to Army Corps of Engineers on New Water Reuse Provisions
EPA Invites Water Recycling Projects to Apply for WIFIA Loans
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency invited three WateReuse Association members – the City of Los Angeles, Inland Empire Utilities Agency (CA), and Pinellas County Utilities (FL) – to apply for Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans. Together, the three agencies will receive WIFIA loans of approximately $336 million to help finance water recycling infrastructure. EPA received 62 letters of interest from both public and private entities in response to the 2018 WIFIA Notice of Funding Availability After a statutorily required review process, 39 prospective borrowers’ projects were selected to submit applications for loans. In total, the selected borrowers will receive WIFIA loans of up to $5 billion to help finance over $10 billion in water infrastructure investments and create up to 155,000 jobs.
State Updates and Member Profiles
Welcome New Member!
The WateReuse Association welcomes the following new member:
Arizona: Peoria Moves Forward with Potable Reuse
WateReuse Association member the City of Peoria recently greenlit a $2.2 million project to recharge its groundwater aquifers with purified water. The project is designed to support the water supply in an area threatened by drought, rising demand, and climate change. Although new rules in Arizona would allow Peoria to send purified water directly to the drinking water treatment plant, the community decided to replenish the aquifers instead. Read More.
Colorado: WateReuse Colorado Releases Technical Memorandums on DPR
WateReuse Colorado released three technical memorandums from the “Advancing Direct Potable Reuse to Optimize Water Supplies and Meet Future Demands” project developed to advance direct potable reuse (DPR) in Colorado. The project assembled stakeholders including regulators, utility providers, consultants, and advocacy groups to address the regulatory, public outreach and perception, and technical hurdles that Colorado will face when implementing DPR. The technical memorandums on each topic are available in the links below, as well as an executive summary with an overview of the project.
- TM1: Regulatory Development
- TM2: Communications and Outreach Plan
- TM3: Treatment Train Planning Tools and Case Studies
- Executive Summary
Florida: Altamonte Springs Purifying Water from Sewers, Storms
WateReuse Association member the City of Altamonte Springs is emerging as a leader in advancing water purification with its pureAlta demonstration project that is turning 30 million gallons of wastewater and stormwater into drinking water each day. The project’s treatment train produces water that meets or exceeds drinking water standards, without the use of a traditional reverse osmosis step that can be particularly costly for inland communities that cannot easily dispose of the leftover salty concentrate. The project also serves as a model for the Florida Potable Reuse Commission as it develops a regulatory framework for potable reuse in Florida. Read More.
Online Member Resources
Flyer Illustrates Economic Value of Recycled Water
Did you know that 70% of the world’s internet traffic moves through servers in Loudoun County, VA that are cooled with recycled water? Or that Orange Country, CA produces enough purified water to meet the drinking water needs of more than 850,000 people? View and share Water Reuse: Transforming Water, Sustaining Our Future, a two page flyer that explains the benefits of water reuse on one side and presents infographics illustrating the economic value of recycled water for communities across the country on the other side. Visit the WateReuse website to view other public awareness resources, including videos, fact sheets, and reports.
Research Update
Water Research Foundation Seeks Proposals for Water Reuse Research
Conferences and Events
Webcast: Learn about the New Recycled Water User Network
Are you interested in recognizing recycled water customers as community water stewards or strengthening your marketing to potential new customers? Please join us for a webcast on Thursday, November 15 at 2 pm EST to learn about a new resource for WateReuse members and a new membership program for industrial and commercial users of recycled water called the Recycled Water User Network™. The network provides a member-only platform for users of recycled water, including customers of water utilities and organizations that recycle water onsite, and is designed to be a resource for members of the WateReuse Association to market and provide support to current and potential customers of recycled water, while building public acceptance of recycled water in your community. The network provides businesses, governments and nonprofits that use recycled water the opportunity to receive a green designation, Water StarTM and to access information and resources on recycled water. Members of the network would also receive access to the Association’s membership benefits, including access to monthly webcasts, weekly newsletter, and discounts on conference registration fees. To learn more about how your utility can take advantage of the Recycled Water User Network, register today for the webcast.
Webcast: Reducing the Cost of Concentrate Disposal: Using a Novel Hybrid NF-RO to Enhance Sodium Chloride Removal
Concentrate disposal is a major cost for desalting operations, and for many water-recycling applications only partial desalting is needed, often targeting sodium chloride specifically. Please join us on Wednesday, November 14 at 2 p.m. EST to learn about a pilot study that was conducted to demonstrate the viability of a two-pass system, combining an NF pass with a second RO pass and blending the NF concentrate with the RO permeate. Findings indicate that sodium chloride can be preferentially removed from the recycled water, chemical and power consumption can be reduced when operated at system recoveries comparable to typical RO systems, and much higher recoveries are achievable with modest increases in power and chemical usage. Register Now!
Upcoming Events

11 am PT | 2 pm ET (1 hour)
WateReuse Members: Free; Others: $49
PDHs: 1
The Tucson Water Reclaimed Water system is nearly 40 years old. Early storage of excess effluent occurred in traditional constructed aquifer recharge facilities. More recently, Tucson has advanced the concept of managed aquifer recharge, a practice that essentially leaves water in the local rivers and streams to naturally recharge the aquifer. This not only provides an aquifer recharge credit for the utility but creates natural riparian habitats in the desert for the community to enjoy. One project, the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project, has restored perennial stream flow to the river in downtown Tucson for the first time since the river dried up nearly 100 years ago.
This presentation will provide a briefing on the Tucson Water Reclaimed system with a particular focus on the three managed aquifer recharge projects that are occurring in the Santa Cruz River.
Presenter:
John Kmiec, Director, Tucson Water

Early Bird Registration and Discount Room Rate Expire July 7!
AZ Water Association and the Arizona Section of WateReuse Association will once again bring together thought leaders from across the Southwest for our annual symposium at Little America Hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona July 24 – 26, 2022.
Sunday: Kick-off Reception and 6th Annual Purple Water Balloon Battle at 5:00 PM. Pick a team/t-shirt color (ASU, NAU, UA or Purple if you want to be Switzerland) and get in the game.
Monday: Full day of Symposium sessions with breakfast & lunch at Little America Hotel. Shuttle to dinner at The Museum Club.
Tuesday: Half-day workshop: “Defining the Future of Direct Potable Reuse in Arizona”
Register and Book Your Hotel Reservation
Free event
July 28, 2022
Summit: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Social: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
The Summer Summit and Social will offer an on-site approach to learn about recycled water and its many benefits and opportunities, as well as network with leaders in water reuse along with local and state representatives.
Join us to learn about the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC)’s current recycled water uses at its treatment facilities, the next step in advancing recycled water for community use, and the immense opportunities for recycled water’s future role as an integrated environmental and water management asset. Engage with other leaders to discuss the positive impact recycled water can make on the One Water we all share.
Register for an optional morning tour of the MWMC’s Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and Biocycle Farm on Friday, July 29 at 9 a.m.
Summit Location: MWMC’s Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, 410 River Avenue, Eugene, OR
Who: WateReuse members, water industry leaders, local and state representatives
Cost: The Summit, Social and Tours are free, but registration is required.
- Register Here
- Learn more about the MWMC and their recycled water programAdditional information and an itinerary will be provided in the coming weeks to registered attendees.

11 am PT | 2 pm ET (1 hour)
WateReuse Members: Free; Others: $49
PDHs: 1
According to the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the nation’s data centers collectively consumed 165 billion gallons of water in 2014. Without intervention and investment, water and energy use of data centers is expected to continue growing rapidly. These trends risk putting data centers into competition with other growing businesses for space, energy, and water, and pose a challenge for data center development in regions with limited water resources. In this webcast, Arcadis and Tomorrow Water will discuss their CoFlow concept which involves the co-location of water reclamation facilities and data centers to allow exchanging water and cooling capacities.
Presenters:
- Ufuk Erdal, Arcadis
- Jon Liberzon, Tomorrow Water
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- Potable Reuse