Austin Works To Incentivize Treated Wastewater Reuse

Austin is trying to make treated wastewater reuse more widespread, but that means untangling policies that do not incentivize the practice.

“Although many believe that it is better to reuse treated wastewater than to discharge it into bodies of water, not all agree on how state law could incentivize reuse,” the Austin Monitor reported. “City and regional stakeholders are drafting a proposal that might achieve that goal.”

The goal of the effort, per a previous Austin Monitor article:

The result would be a major change in the way that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permits various entities to deal with certain types of wastewater discharge. Cities and water districts would be able to save a considerable amount of water that is being used for irrigation, toilet flushing and other uses not requiring potable water. In addition to the water savings, utilities and cities would not be required to buy as much land or, perhaps, build as much infrastructure.

Critics say that current policies do not incentivize reuse. Chris Herrington, an engineer with the Watershed Protection Department, outlined reform goals.

“All we want to do is build a bridge between them that basically enables permittees to take credit for the amount of treated effluent that they’re going to beneficially reuse somewhere else… so the size of your dedicated disposal field can be smaller,” he said, per the report.

Texas has been a trailblazer when it comes to recycled wastewater programs. “The San Antonio Water System boasts of having the ‘nation's largest recycled water system.’ Some of that recycled water flows down the San Antonio River, at the heart of the city's popular River Walk, and some goes to golf courses, parks or industry,” The Texas Tribune reported.

In 2011, “in Austin, reclaimed water accounted for 2.6 percent of total water use last year, according to Jason Hill, a spokesman for the Austin Water Utility, who said the reclaimed system has been growing at a rate of 5 percent to 8 percent per year,” the report said.

For similar stories, visit Water Online’s Water Reuse Solutions Center.