Washington Update

WateReuse Supports Legislation to Extend NPDES Permits to 10 Years

The WateReuse Association signed on to a letter sent to congressional sponsors on Friday supporting recent bi-partisan legislation that would modernize National Permit Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit terms under the Clean Water Act. Sponsored by Reps. Jeff Denham (R-CA) and John Garamendi (D-CA), the legislation provides the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or a delegated state with the discretionary authority to consider providing a permit term of up to ten years. In some cases, a project construction timeline for clean water infrastructure can extend more than a decade as public agencies try to meet the requirements of extensive environmental reviews, project design, scheduling, and labor and construction agreements. The letter states that the current NPDES permit term of five years simply does not align with today’s water infrastructure reality. WateReuse joined the Association of California Water Agencies, California Association of Sanitation Agencies, National Association of Clean Water Agencies, and Water Environment Federation in urging expeditious consideration of this legislation prior to the conclusion of the 115th Congress.

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WateReuse and Partners to Highlight Membrane Technology in Washington, DC

The WateReuse Association, American Membrane Technology Association, and Water Environment Federation will host a day of events in Washington, DC on October 10 to illustrate the value of membrane technology to treat and produce high quality water. The day’s events will begin with a roundtable discussion at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water, 9:30 a.m. – 11:45 p.m., followed by a congressional briefing and reception on Capitol Hill from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. In both the morning and afternoon sessions, representatives from leading organizations will share first-hand knowledge of their experiences with membrane technology to treat and produce higher quality water whether it is for reuse, wastewater treatment or removal of constituents of concern.

The discussion will include membrane use and energy concerns for seawater treatment with an update on the Carlsbad Desalination facility and direct potable reuse operations utilizing membranes at the Big Spring, TX facility. Presenters will also discuss the application of membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment and offer a glimpse at a Canton, OH project and the work in Brunswick County, NC on membrane treatment to address GENX and PFOS concerns.

Following the afternoon briefing, congressional staff will have the opportunity to view posters highlighting the projects discussed throughout the day, which represent a variety of membrane water and wastewater treatment applications. The poster authors will be available to answer questions and refreshments will be served.

The presenters for the day’s events will be Bob Yamada, Director of Water Resources at the San Diego County Water Authority; Mike Snodgrass, Membrane Technology Leader, MBR Systems for OVIVO; David Sloan, Senior Process Engineer at Freese and Nichols, Inc., and John Nichols, Director of Public Utilities in Brunswick County, NC.

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State Updates and Member Profile

Welcome New Members!

The WateReuse Association welcomes the following new member:

Meiden America

California: Study Documents Municipal Wastewater Discharges to Coastal Water Bodies

WateReuse Association member Heal the Ocean announced the release of The Inventory of Municipal Wastewater Discharges to California Coastal Water Bodies, an online interactive study that documents the 417 billion gallons of treated municipal wastewater discharged at fifty-seven coastal locations in the 2015 calendar year. The study notes that if California had recycled 63.3% of total municipal wastewater flows to coastal waters in 2015, it would have made its 2020 recycled water production goal. Learn More.

California: Padre Dam Hosts Successful Water Reuse Festival

WateReuse Association member Padre Dam Municipal Water District hosted more than 400 visitors during the East County Water Festival in Santee to celebrate water and learn about the East County Advanced Water Purification Program that will create a new drought proof drinking water supply using state-of-the-art technology to purify East San Diego County’s recycled water. The East County Advanced Water Purification Project is a regional partnership with Padre Dam, Helix Water District, City of El Cajon and the County of San Diego. Read More.

Florida: St. Johns River Makes Water Reuse a Budget Priority

WateReuse Association member the St John’s River Water Management District has set a budget of $142.5 million for 2018-19, covering projects including water reuse and aquifer recharge initiatives, and public-private partnerships. The budget provides for $54.92 million in cooperative funding, including up to $3.5 million to support water projects in economically disadvantaged rural communities and for innovative technologies, spring and priority water body protection and restoration, water conservation initiatives, and projects to enhance the use of reclaimed water. Read More.

Oregon: Clean Water Services Introduces Pure Water Wagon This Week

WateReuse Association member Clean Water Services introduces its new Pure Water Wagon at WEFTEC in New Orleans this week. Based in Hillsboro, Clean Water Services will take this wagon to public and industry events to provide a close-up look at technology that transforms what that goes down our drains into water that is clean and safe to reuse. Clean Water Services has been a leader in innovation and was the first utility to introduce reuse beer in 2015. Read More.

New York: New Facility Will Charge Electric Buses, Clean Buses with Reclaimed Water

U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced last week $2 million in federal U.S. Department of Transportation funding for the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority to help construct a new $10 million Advanced Environmental Service Building. The building will both support charging of new, low-pollution electric buses and use reclaimed water to clean buses to reduce the environmental impact and lower operational costs. The U.S. Department of Transportation provided this funding through the Bus and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program. Read More.

Texas: New Research Center to Study Better Water Purification Methods

A new multi-university research center headquartered in The University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering will seek more creative approaches — and new materials — to use and reuse existing water and improve upon existing water purification methods. The Center for Materials for Water and Energy SysTems (M-WET) unites researchers from UT; the University of California, Santa Barbara; and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The center has been launched through a four-year, $10.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and is part of the DOE’s Energy Frontiers Research Centers program. Read More.

Conferences and Events

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 November 14 at 2 p.m. 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!

Call for Abstracts: 2019 WateReuse California Annual Conference

WateReuse California is accepting abstracts through October 8, 2018 for a place on the program at the 2019 WateReuse California Annual Conference on March 17-19, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Garden Grove, CA. The conference is designed for individuals, organizations, and agencies that are associated with or interested in the use, design, management, and operation of water recycling facilities and projects in California. The conference will feature more than 40 technical presentations, poster presentations, technical tours, receptions, an awards luncheon, the annual Gordon Cologne Breakfast, and the ever-popular exhibition component. Submit an abstract!