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
WateReuse Pacific Northwest State Workshop series.
WateReuse Pacific Northwest State Workshop Series
Join Us!
11:00 am – 1:30 pm PT | 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm ET
Fee: Free
This webinar is hosted jointly by this year’s Water Week Water Association Partners and will provide attendees the opportunity to hear directly from key EPA officials and Members of Congress on the important regulatory and legislative water policies they are working on now and in the years ahead.
Join us for a lively discussion with leaders from across the water sector about the future of water reuse and its importance as a tool to address the impacts of climate change and meet local water demands.
Register Now!Please join us for a free webinar on April 29, 2021, from 2:00 to 3:30 PM EDT to celebrate the first year of the National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP), including accomplishments of action leaders and partners and anticipated 2021 outcomes.
The Resilience through Collaboration: First Year Highlights and Future Directions of the National Water Reuse Action Plan webcast will feature remarks from Radhika Fox (EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Water), Felicia Marcus (William C. Landreth Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Water in the West Program), and a roundtable discussion with WRAP action leaders and partners and other water reuse practitioners from around the United States. This event is hosted by EPA in collaboration with the WateReuse Association and other water sector partners.
The roundtable panelists include:
- Gilbert Trejo, El Paso Water, WateReuse President (moderator)
- Pinar Balci, New York City Department of Environmental Protection
- Mike Markus, Orange County Water District
- Melissa Klembara, U.S. Department of Energy
- Brandi Honeycutt, Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment
- Paula Kehoe, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Chair of the National Blue Ribbon Commission for Onsite Non-potable Water Systems
The WRAP collaborative was launched on February 27, 2020 with federal, state, tribal, local, and private sector partners to build technical, financial, and institutional capacity to spur further consideration and implementation of water reuse across the country. The story of the WRAP’s first year of implementation is one of incredible dedication and determination by a growing community of over 100 different organizations. The WRAP collaborative has enabled the formation of new action-based partnerships across the water community to help address local water resource challenges through holistic thinking and integrated efforts to ultimately strengthen our Nation’s water security, sustainability, and resilience.

Join May Wu, Principal Environmental System Scientist with Argonne National Laboratory, for a webcast on the role of water reuse in bioenergy production.
11:00 am – 12:00 pm PT | 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET
WateReuse Members: Free | Others: $49
Production of bioenergy from a range of feedstocks and biorefining pathways requires a substantial amount of water for irrigation, conversion process, cooling, and steam generation. Because the feedstock varies with climate and soil regions, an increased production will have implications in the availability of regional and local freshwater resources across the U.S. It is critical to understand how fit-for-purpose water recycling can be used to conserve freshwater.
This webcast presents findings from an Argonne National laboratory analyses of potential recycled water use to produce biofuels from conventional crops and algae and generate power by incorporating technology, climate, and geospatial-temporal components. Findings suggest a significant potential of producing advanced biofuel while doubling the amount of recycled water in use nationally. Results from this project support informed decision-making and strategic planning for water sustainable bioenergy development.
Presenter
May Wu is a principal environmental system scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. Her research interests are water resource use, water quality, and wastewater management in the production of biofuels and conventional energy.
WateReuse Pacific Northwest State Workshop Series
WateReuse Pacific Northwest State Workshop Series
WateReuse Pacific Northwest State Workshop Series
Save the date! More information to come soon.

Learn how digital platforms that include artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to improve asset management strategies and operational efficiencies.
11:00 am – 12:00 pm PT | 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET
WateReuse Members: Free
Others: $49
PDHs: 1
In this webcast, our presenters will introduce how digital platforms that include artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can be used to improve asset management strategies and operational efficiencies, as well as enhance source control, validate unit process performance, predict product water quality and make sound decisions for assessing suitability of product water for human consumption.
The data collected from pilot and full-scale potable reuse treatment trains have been used to develop artificial neuron networks as part of an ML platform. The platform clearly demonstrates that ML can be used to predict, for example, the product water total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of a pilot advanced treatment facility and the specific fluxes on the third stage of a full-scale advanced treatment facility as the feed quality and operating conditions are changed.
The methodology used and model outputs will be discussed during the webcast. The presenters will also examine how we can couple AI/ML concepts with the Internet of Things (IoT) and next generation of the SCADA systems to operate and maintain assets efficiently while significantly enhancing public and regulatory confidence in potable reuse projects.
Presenters
- Ufuk Erdal, Arcadis
- Jim Cooper, Arcadis
- Raluca Constantinescu, Arcadis
- Ozan Erdal, University of Washington