Washington Update

WateReuse Leads Stakeholders in Urging $250 Million Reauthorization for Title XVI-WINN

The WateReuse Association sent a stakeholder letter last week to the leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee and the House Natural Resources Committee urging support for the reauthorization of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Title XVI Water Reclamation and Reuse competitive grant program authorized in the 2016 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act (Title XVI-WIIN). The stakeholder letter was signed by 57 western utilities, as well as 11 national organizations and 8 state and regional non-governmental organizations.

Title XVI is the only federal program focused on funding water recycling projects in the western states, and with enactment of the FY 2019 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, the $50 million authorization for Title-WIIN has been reached. Therefore, it is critical to reauthorize Title XVI-WIIN to support the continued development of water reuse in the West and the development of drought-proof water supplies.

There are currently 44 Title XVI-WIIN eligible projects awaiting assistance, with a total of $528 million in eligible federal cost-share. To address the federal cost-share demand, the letter urges that Title XVI-WIIN be reauthorized at $250 million over five years, paid for by deauthorizing “inactive” Title XVI projects following a similar deauthorization process Congress enacted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in the 2014 Water Resources Reform and Development Act. Currently, the federal cost-share for projects that have never received funding or have not received funding in the past ten years is approximately $200 million. Under the proposal, sponsors of projects listed for deauthorization would have a transparent and public process to submit information demonstrating the project’s active status to the Bureau of Reclamation with a request to revoke the deauthorization.

The stakeholder letter also noted that the WIIN 2016 authorizations for the desalination program ($30 million) and western water storage funds ($335 million) expired with the enactment of the FY 2019 Energy and Water Appropriations measure. The stakeholders support the reauthorization of these programs as water storage and desalination projects work in tandem with water recycling projects to ensure that communities across the West have safe, secure, and sustainable water supplies.

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WateReuse Association Offers Support to Army Corps of Engineers on New Water Reuse Provisions

The WateReuse Association sent a letter last Tuesday to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and the Lieutenant Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers offering support and congratulations on the passage of the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 and laying the groundwork to work collaboratively on implementing key provisions that support water reuse.

The WateReuse Association and member agencies spent many months advocating for inclusion of provisions that support water reuse in America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, which is the biennial reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). The package encourages the use of non-potable water recycling to address water demand challenges particularly for industrial applications, establishes the Innovative Water Technology Grant Program providing $10 million annually to support investments in innovative water technology, including water reuse or recycling, and authorizes $25 million for investment in resilient and sustainable water infrastructure, including water recycling.

WateReuse worked closely with Members of Congress to draft an approach that will strengthen the ties between local Corps of Engineers sponsors and local water management agencies to integrate Corps planning of its projects (Section 1164). This provision holds great promise for more local and regional cooperation, resulting in multi-purpose, multi-benefit projects, connecting flood damage reduction with stormwater capture and reuse, along with water recycling and aquifer recharge. This section coupled with the new provisions for stakeholder involvement in the development of Implementation Guidance at Section 1105 will help create a more partnered and transparent approach to addressing local water resources needs.

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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:

Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association

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.

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

The Water Research Foundation released Requests for Proposals for seven new research projects funded under the Advancing Potable Reuse Initiative in partnership with the California State Water Resources Control Board.

The projects are:

Considerations and Blending Strategies for Drinking Water System Integration with Alternative Water Supplies (4953) – The goal is to identify and evaluate impact of alternative water supplies, such as potable reuse, on the water quality of the end users’ existing drinking water systems that have known issues with tuberculation, and develop management strategies to mitigate adverse impacts. Due: 12/19/18, 2:00 PM MT
Integration of High Frequency Performance Data for Microbial and contaminant Control in Potable Reuse Systems (4954) – The goal is to evaluate the integration of performance data and statistical process control into potable reuse operations. Due: 12/19/18, 2:00 PM MT
Indicator Viruses to Confirm Performance of Advanced Physical Treatment (4955) – The goal is to identify and evaluate potential viral indicator(s) for assessing performance of physical treatment processes during advance water treatment for potable reuse. Due: 12/19/18, 2:00 PM MT
New Techniques, Tools, and Validation Protocols for Achieving Log Removal Credit across NF and RO Membranes (4958) – The primary objective is to identify methods and procedures for validation of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membrane integrity that will provide regulators with confidence to award appropriate Log Removal Values for the technology. Due: 12/12/18, 2:00 PM MT
Review of Industrial Contaminants Associated with Water Quality or Adverse Performance Impacts for Potable Reuse Treatment (4960) – The goal is to identify contaminants or families of compounds related to industry or manufacturing, and review the types of industries that may consume or discharge these compounds, and develop mitigation strategies. Due: 12/12/18, 2:00 PM MT
The Use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Technologies and Metagenomics Approaches to Evaluate Water and Wastewater Quality Monitoring and Treatment Technologies (4961) – The objective is to identify applications for Next Generation Sequencing and metagenomics tools that have the most potential for use in a utility monitoring program. Due: 12/19/18, 2:00 PM MT
Developing a New Foundational Understanding of SAR-Soil Structure Interactions to Provide Management Options for Recycled Water Use in Agriculture (4963) – The goals are to obtain a better understanding of sodium absorption ratio/electro-conductivity interactions between recycling water and specific soil parameters, and achieve increased understanding of specific plant-soil interactions as affected by irrigation with recycled water. Due: 12/12/18, 2:00 PM MT

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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 Star^TM 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!