Direct Potable Reuse

as an

Effluent Management Strategy

Direct Potable Reuse – Reuse of treated wastewater as a raw water source for treatment into potable water.

Effluent – Product of a wastewater treatment plant– treated wastewater

Direct Potable Reuse

as an

Effluent Management Strategy

De facto

Indirect Environmental Buffer

Direct Into the raw water supply entering a water

treatment plant Directly into the potable water

distribution“Pipe-to-Pipe”

How did a small Central Texas utility become the first in the United States to commission a pipe-to-pipe direct potable reuse project…

and WHY?!?

Wastewater Service Area City of Bee Cave, Texas Approximately 3,000 Living

Unit Equivalents 600,000 gpd

Wastewater Permit Land Application

(irrigation) Two golf courses HOA

1.0 MGD Expansion to 1.8 MGD

Availability of Land

Management Priorities Golf courses – playability HOA – cost Utility – compliance with permit and storage buffer for unanticipated events

Cost Treatment $ 10 per gallon Storage Pond & Spray Irrigation $ 14 per gallon Irrigation Acreage $ 100,000 per acre

$ 9,300 per home

Cost Subsurface Drip Irrigation $24 per gallon Storage & Spray Irrigation $14 per gallon

(excludes land cost) Direct Potable Reuse Treatment $ 8 per gallon

Management Autonomy Direct control over storage levels

Factors to Weigh Seasonal need Brine disposal Permit offset needed

Additional Benefits Revenue stream Water supply redundancy

Identify potential problem/solution fit Commission preliminary

engineering to investigate feasibility Commission design and

permitting

Effluent Management Strategy

Pipe-to-Pipe

Permitted Wastewater Disposal Mechanism