Potable Reuse in Texas: A Glimpse into the New Water Frontier Ellen McDonald, Ph.D., P.E. Alan Plummer Associates, Inc.

Acknowledgments City of Brownwood –David Harris, Director of Utilities City of Wichita Falls –Daniel Nix, Operations Manager El Paso Water Utilities –Irazema Rojas, Environmental Compliance Manager ARCADIS Freese and Nichols

Evolution of Reuse in Texas Agricultural Industrial Municipal Planned Unplanned Indirect Potable Direct Potable

DPR in the Barton Springs Zone?

Major Texas Potable Reuse Projects Trinity River Basin projects El Paso Colorado River Municipal Water District

WTP Evolution of Potable Reuse Environmental Buffer WWTP ?

CRMWD at Big Spring Project

Other DPR Projects In Process Wichita Falls Stay tuned… there are more on the way!

Wichita Falls Emergency DPR Project Use existing MF/RO facility to treat effluent from WWTP RO permeate to be blended 50/50 with raw water from lakes Blended water to be treated at conventional WTP Pipeline from WWTP to WTP laid above ground Source:

City of Brownwood Conservation pool: ft

City of Brownwood – Proposed System (1.5 MGD) Estimated Cost - $8.5 Million Project Status: –TWDB funding approved Sept –TCEQ construction approval Dec No blending required Requires full-scale verification –Awaiting council approval to move forward

El Paso Water Utilities Existing Supplies –Rio Grande –Groundwater Hueco Bolson Aquifer Mesilla Bolson Aquifer –Reclaimed water Nonpotable reuse Groundwater recharge Elephant Butte Reservoir 18.4% Full as of April 22, 2014

Advanced Purified WTP Roberto R. Bustamante WWTP with Additional Treatment Roberto R. Bustamante WWTP with Additional Treatment Brine disposal: Blend w/WWTP effluent = 1.8 MGD Riverside Irrigation Canal Distribution System Rio Bosque Wetland Park Reclaimed Water 10 MGD Reclaimed Water Customers Outfall MF Backwash to RBWWTP Headworks = 1 MGD 7.2 MGD Advanced Purified WTP Concept

WTP Advanced Treatment for DPR WWTP Microfiltration or Ultrafiltration Reverse Osmosis UV/AOP Activated Carbon Ozone/BAC Concentrate Disposal “Engineered Storage” and Monitoring

The 4 “R’s” of Treatment for DPR R edundancy f(# of barriers targeting a contaminant) R obustness f(treatment process diversity) R esilience f(failure response protocols) R ELIABILITY

The bandwagon is tempting… Direct Potable Reuse the solution to your water supply woes Proceed Carefully!

Questions to ask before jumping on the bandwagon What are relevant regulations? What are appropriate water quality performance targets? What treatment schemes can be used? What monitoring is needed?

Questions to ask before jumping on the bandwagon What operations skills are needed? How much will the project cost? Are there other options? Will the public support the project?

Texas Water Development Board DPR Research Initiatives “Evaluating the Potential for Direct Potable Reuse in Texas” –Develop resource document for DPR implementation “Testing Water Quality in a Municipal Wastewater Effluent Treated to Drinking Water Standards” –Testing at CRMWD DPR facility –Develop monitoring guidelines for DPR

National DPR Research Focus Areas Alternative treatment schemes Blending and storage needs Treatment operations and reliability Monitoring strategies Quality assurance Public education and communication

Ellen McDonald, Ph.D., P.E