Home\WateReuse Review – October 8, 2018

October 8, 2018

 

Washington Update

Congress Wraps Up Work on Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriations…For Now

WateReuse Urges Supreme Court to Consider Challenge to Underground Conduit Theory

Metropolitan Water District Discusses California Water Issues on Capitol Hill

WateReuse Association member the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) organized a congressional briefing last Tuesday to highlight California water issues, present solutions, and solicit congressional support. MWD Board Chairman Randy Record and General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger presented information on the $16.7 billion California WaterFix project and other projects such as the California EcoRestore and Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan. More than 50 people attended to learn about Southern California’s great endeavor in securing water.

 

State Updates and Member Profiles

Welcome New Members!

The WateReuse Association welcomes the following new members:

Arkansas: $4.3 Million Federal Grant Awarded to Study Agricultural Reuse

A University of Arkansas, Fayetteville researcher has won a $4.3 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to work with farmers on ways to recycle water. The grant, awarded to Professor Lauren Greenlee, also involves evaluating whether water technology used in other industries might work for agricultural applications. Greenlee’s project is one of seven receiving a total of $34 million through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative: Water for Food Production Systems Challenge Area. Greenlee plans to work with dairy and hog farmers on ways to recycle water used in their operations. Read More.

 California: Community Leaders Celebrate Completion of Monterey Pipeline Project

WateReuse Association member California American Water held a ceremony last week to celebrate the completion of a 7-mile, $50 million pipeline that will carry new sources of water to the Monterey Peninsula. The new water sources include a recently approved seawater desalination facility and water from the advanced-treatment project, Pure Water Monterey, currently under development by Monterey One Water and the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. Pure Water Monterey expects to deliver water in late 2019. The desalination project should be online in 2021. Read More.

California: OCSD and OCWD Receive Regional Public Relations Award of Excellence

WateReuse Association members the Orange County Water District and Orange County Sanitation District received the 2018 Award of Excellence from the Orange County Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for the “GWRS Bottled Water Campaign.” The project included a year-long California tour to bring bottled water and information to about 17,000 people from San Diego to Sacramento to educate audiences about the reliability and quality of this new source of water. The two agencies, with WateReuse California, helped to pass Assembly Bill 2022, which now allows the bottling of advanced purified water for educational purposes. Read More.

Florida: Pinellas County Names Megan Ross Director of Utilities

WateReuse Association member Pinellas County named Megan Ross as the new Utilities Director, effective October 1. Ross has been with Pinellas County for five years and has more than a decade of experience in public and private sector utility and engineering project management. She joined Pinellas County in 2013 and assumed the role of interim utilities director – leading the department since late 2017. She also served as primary facilitator for the Wastewater Stormwater Partnership. Read More.

Massachusetts: Natural Systems Utilities Awarded Contract for Onsite Reuse in Boston Development

WateReuse Association member Natural Systems Utilities has been awarded a contract to provide a two million gallons per day onsite water treatment and recycling facility to serve the Union Point development just south of Boston. Envisioned as a technologically advanced and environmentally conscious city, Union Point will comprise nearly 4,000 homes and apartments and 8 million square feet of commercial development opportunity balanced with more than 1,000 acres of green space and 50 miles of hiking and biking trails. The site also has direct pedestrian access to a commuter rail station. Read More.

Nevada: Water Innovation Campus Finds Success, Studies Advanced Purification

The Nevada Water Innovation Campus (NWIC), a partnership of the University of Nevada, Reno and regional agencies and cities focusing on sustainable water management, is marking its one-year anniversary with a celebration of successes. The university helps develop new approaches and the agencies implement them. One program that NWIC has added to its portfolio is OneWater Nevada, which evaluates treatment technologies and determines if advanced purified water can offer long-term benefits to the region. OneWater Nevada also has multiple demonstration trailers to inform the public about the treatment technology. Read More.

 

Association News

New Analysis Quantifies Resources Recovered from Wastewater

Each year, American communities recycle 2.2 billion gallons of water recovering 7 percent of the municipal wastewater produced, according to a new analysis supported by the WateReuse Association and led by the Water Environment Federation (WEF). The ReNew Water Project, the first analysis of resources recovery by U.S. Water utilities shows significant opportunities for expanding water reuse. The project uses data from national and state databases, publications, and a utility survey, which represents about 25 percent of municipal wastewater flow and about 20 percent of biosolids produced in the U.S. The ReNew Water Project will set goals for water utilities to increase resource recovery from baseline levels. New data will be collected on a biannual basis and expanded to Canadian water facilities. Other supporting organizations for the ReNEW Water Project include the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA), National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), The Water Research Foundation (WRF), as well as Réseau Environnement in Quebec. Learn 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!

Webcast: Learn about the New Recycled Water User Network

Please join us on Thursday, November 15 at 2 pm eastern 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. To learn more, register for the webcast.

EPA Announces WIFIA Information Sessions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced three new dates for Information Sessions designed to give utilities the opportunity to learn about funding opportunities for water, wastewater, and recycled water infrastructure available under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). WIFIA program staff will provide an overview of the program, explain the financial benefits of WIFIA loans, and discuss the application process. The announced dates are:

Upcoming Events

May
30
Tue
Chapter Meeting @ Inland Empire Utilities Agency 
May 30 @ 11:00 am – 1:30 pm

Inland Empire WateReuse Chapter Meeting will hold an in-person meeting and tour at the Inland Empire Utilities Agency’s large-scale Regional Water Recycling Plant No. 5 Expansion Project and Water Quality Laboratory. Please bring you PPE. Tuesday, May 30th, 2023 // 11:00 am – 1:30 pm

Jun
5
Mon
Stakeholder Meeting
Jun 5 all-day

Stakeholder meeting for pending changes to TCEQ Chapter 217 relating to reclaimed wastewater collection systems. View the advocacy updates article for more details, or visit the Wastewater System Design Criteria Stakeholder Group for the proposed changes and future meeting announcements.

Jun
9
Fri
Meeting of the Board of Directors – Second Quarter 2023
Jun 9 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

Friday, June 9, 2023

11:00 am to 2:00 pm ET (Remote)

Jun
13
Tue
WRCA Los Angeles Chapter Meeting
Jun 13 all-day
Jun
15
Thu
Orange County Chapter Meeting @ South Coast Water District
Jun 15 @ 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Jun
16
Fri
IN PERSON/HYBRID Sacramento Meeting
Jun 16 @ 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Jun
20
Tue
Pacific Northwest Section Meeting
Jun 20 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Jul
18
Tue
Pacific Northwest Section Meeting
Jul 18 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Jul
23
Sun
Arizona Water Reuse 2023 Symposium
Jul 23 – Jul 25 all-day
Jul
26
Wed
Potable Reuse Committee Meeting @ Virtual
Jul 26 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

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