October 22, 2018
Washington Update
Congress Enacts Major Water Infrastructure Legislation, includes Support for Water Reuse
Membrane Technology in Water Reuse Highlighted in Washington Briefings
State Updates and Member Profiles
Welcome New Members!
The WateReuse Association welcomes the following new members:
- Manav Global MB LLC
- Purifics Water Inc.
California: New Law Will Expand On-Site Water Recycling
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill, SB966, which will expand water recycling in California by developing on-site water reuse regulations. Introduced by state Senator Scott Wiener, the new law requires the state water board to issue more comprehensive regulations for on-site water recycling. The new law will give businesses clear standard on how to permit on-site systems. WateReuse Association member the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, WateReuse California, and the US Green Building Council all supported the bill.
California: Malibu Opens $61 Million Water Recycling Facility
The City of Malibu recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new $61 million Civic Center Water Treatment Facility, which will recycle 70 million gallons of water each year to irrigate parks and public landscaping. The city formed a community facilities district to fund the design and then formed an assessment district among Civic Center properties to fund the construction. Attendees of the ribbon cutting took guided tours of the facility to view and learn about the system’s major features. Learn More.
Florida: Tampa Bay Times Publishes Editorial in Support of Potable Reuse
The Tampa Bay Times published an editorial October 12 in support of a proposed potable reuse project that would add purified water into the area’s drinking water supply. The editorial states, “this is a smart use of precious natural resources and an example of regional thinking, and the utility’s governing board should approve it.” Under the proposal, 50 million gallons of purified water would be injected into the aquifer each day. When the water is pumped back up, about half would go to Tampa’s drinking water treatment plant and the other half to the Hillsborough River reservoir. Read More
New Mexico: New Planned Community Required to Recycle Water
WateReuse Association member the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority is requiring a proposed 13,700-acre planned community to include water reuse as an integral part of its water management strategy. The developer would be required to build a drinking water system, a reuse system, and a wastewater system at an estimated cost of $600 million over the 50-year-build-out. Water Utility Authority officials have told developers that groundwater is available on the property, but no additional water capacity within the Water Utility Authority’s current infrastructure is available for the community. Read More.
Association News
Water Reuse Baseline Data Indicates Rate of Adoption in U.S.
WateReuse Executive Director Participates in Maryland-Israel Sister State Water Security Summit
Conferences and Events
Webcast: Learn about the New Recycled Water User Network
Please join us on Thursday, November 15th at 2:00 pm EST to learn about the WateReuse Association’s newest membership opportunity, the Recycled Water User Network. The network gives 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 and 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
Join us for our monthly New Technologies and Innovation committee virtual meetings. In August, we will have representatives from Raftelis share about the “Business Case of DPR”. As Florida’s traditional water supplies face increasing strain from population growth, aquifer limitations, and tightening environmental regulations, utilities are being forced to evaluate new strategies for securing long-term water supply. Direct potable reuse (DPR), the process of treating wastewater effluent to drinking water standards and reintroducing it into the potable supply, has emerged as a potentially cost-effective path forward.
This presentation explores the financial and strategic case for DPR in a future defined by reduced water availability and rising regulatory requirements. Using a representative Florida utility as a modeling framework, the analysis examines how the economics of DPR evolve as cheap supply sources are exhausted and emerging contaminant standards raise the baseline cost of wastewater treatment regardless of end use.
The analysis suggests that as treatment standards rise across the board, the incremental cost of advancing to full DPR becomes increasingly favorable, warranting a closer look at whether continued investment in conventional reuse infrastructure represents the best use of capital. Drawing on cost data from Florida utilities and national precedents from states already implementing DPR, the presentation provides a transparent, cost-based framework for evaluating DPR as a viable supply option.
The findings are intended to support informed public policy discussion and help utility leaders, regulators, and water management districts assess whether DPR warrants broader consideration as part of Florida’s long-term water supply strategy.
PRESENTERS:
Mark Tuma is a Manager at Raftelis whose practice focuses on rate design, cost-of-service analysis, revenue sufficiency, and impact fee development across water, wastewater, stormwater, gas, and solid waste utilities. With more than ten years of experience, he builds multi-year financial models and capital funding plans for local governments and utility authorities nationwide, including Fairfax County, the City of Orlando, Manatee County, Englewood Water District, and the Municipality of Anchorage. Mark constructs Excel-based analytical tools designed so that governing boards and community members can follow every calculation step by step. He is an active member of AWWA and the Florida Government Finance Officers Association, and has presented before the FSAWWA Finance and Rate Committee.
Thierry Boveri, CGFM is a Senior Vice President with Raftelis, a national financial and management consulting firm serving local governments and utilities. He advises municipalities across the United States on rate design, cost-of-service studies, capital planning, and long-term infrastructure funding for water and wastewater systems. Thierry is a lead author on several industry manuals of practice, including WEF Manual of Practice No. 27 and the WEF Water Reuse Roadmap. He works with city and county leadership teams to integrate financial forecasting with capital and operational planning, developing transparent rate structures that support resilient, financially sustainable water and wastewater programs.
If you would like to join, please email Jenny Taylor, WateReuse Florida’s managing director, at jtaylor@watereuse.org.
Join us in San Francisco for the 2026 WateReuse California Annual Conference! Hear from the leading practitioners of water reuse in California, learn about San Francisco’s leadership on onsite water recycling, and meet colleagues new and old in a fun and focused setting.
Register Now!
The National Water Reuse Action Plan 2.0 (WRAP 2.0) has officially launched and efforts have been live for a quarter! The U.S. EPA is focusing on incorporating the beverage industry, automotive sector, protein processing, and data centers into the WRAP 2.0. The reason behind this emphasis on industry is to align water reuse objectives with the EPA’s Five Pillars. Tune in to this webcast to get the full picture of how the water sector is building toward a more reuse-centric future!
Register Now!
Moderator:
- Greg Fogel, WateReuse Association, Director of Government Affairs and Policy
Presenters:
- Sharon Nappier, National Program Leader for Water Reuse, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Sargon de Jesus, Physical Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Event Fees
- This event is free to the public
Professional Development Hours – 1 credit hour is available