Rethinking Water Reuse: Models For Future Success
By Jim Lauria
but there is also a third thing, that makes it water
and nobody knows what it is.”
D.H. Lawrence
“The Third Thing”
Say the word “water” and you dive deep into a world of different, often contradictory meanings. All water is linked through a global cycle of evaporation, precipitation, and flow. But there’s also a duality of water, and a plurality. Water has so many characteristics, and so many uses.
Consider water’s duality. Water is feminine and masculine. It’s as soft as a raindrop on a baby’s cheek, as tender as her mother’s kiss ... but it’s also the driving force of the tsunami that ripped through northern Japan. It’s a tranquil, babbling brook and it’s the Colorado River carving the Grand Canyon out of bedrock. It’s our best friend in a drought and our worst enemy in a flood.
Water is both life and death.
But, ironically, when most people think of water as a resource, they envision a simple, flat-rate, one-size-fits-all commodity. Most of us flush our toilets with the same water we use to brush our teeth. We water our lawns with the same water we use for boiling our pasta. The lines are blurred among many different types of water — water for irrigation, consumers, industry, and the environment — but each of those uses has unique quality and delivery needs. They can’t be considered “one water.”
As schoolchildren, we learn about the hydrologic cycle, the flow of water from clouds to rain to lakes, rivers and the sea, then back to the clouds (with some detours to underground aquifers along the way for a small percentage of the water). Hydrologists are building a deeper understanding of the links between surface water and groundwater, highlighting the impact of actions aboveground on our buried water resources.
Groundwater research is also reminding us that not all aquifers are created equal. Water tapped from the shallow aquifer beneath Florida’s sandy soil in many ways has little in common with the water pumped from the “fossil deposits” locked under bedrock beneath Washington State’s Columbia Plateau. We may be able to manage Florida’s aquifer like a checking account, making deposits and withdrawals on quick turnarounds. But ancient, locked deposits under nearly impermeable strata need to be managed like retirement money. We have to be conservative, and we need to recognize that there can be severe penalties for early withdrawal.
As water supplies tighten and competition for shrinking supplies intensifies, we’re going to have to recognize the plurality of water. We need to consider the source of water, the quality of water, the cost of water, and its intended use — and we need to learn how to manage and pay for it accordingly.
Oil Is The Model
The same consumer who assumes that every gallon of water is worth the same number of pennies is absolutely comfortable paying different prices for his gasoline. That’s something we in the water industry need to understand, and, ultimately, to emulate.
Beneath the gas prices we pay (and complain about) every day, there’s an extremely complex pricing structure for oil. Even when economists zero in on crude oil prices, there’s a lot of variability in the actual cost of materials at the refinery and at the pump.
Not surprisingly, not every barrel of oil is created equal. A $115 barrel of oil represents a very specific product, with carefully set parameters on specific gravity and sulfur content. According to Catherine Gautier of the University of California, Santa Barbara in her book Oil, Water and Climate: An Introduction, Brent oil is a North Sea blend, United Arab Emirates Dubai oil is a trading standard based on a blend of Middle Eastern crude, and West Texas Intermediate is a light, sweet crude oil that’s perfect for making into gasoline. The prices of each of those oils will jockey against each other based on a wide variety of factors, but we can generally count on West Texas Intermediate to trade at a premium against Dubai and Brent in the U.S. market.
That oil is refined into gasoline and an array of byproducts, and Joe Consumer decides at the pump whether he wants to pay 35 cents more for 91 octane gas or just stick with 87.
The Water Conundrum
So why does Mr. Consumer go ballistic when he drives home from the gas station and reads his water bill?
Clearly, there’s a sense that access to water is a right, not a privilege, and that’s true to an extent. But does the right to clean, cheap water extend beyond the drinking glass, pasta pot, and bathtub to also include nearly unlimited, low-cost, drinking-quality water for lawns and pools? Should those uses be priced differently? Should Joe Consumer’s water bill more closely reflect the cost of treating the water he’s using to bring it to a drinking water standard — as in the case of some Utah cities I’ve visited as well as most Israeli cities and farms — or the lower cost of treating irrigation water to a lesser standard?
Several cities in Utah have installed miles of purple pipe to transport non-potable water to homeowners in pressurized irrigation systems. Simple filtration keeps sprinkler heads and delivery pipes clear. There’s no need for membranes or disinfection — or the costs associated with the extra treatment. Residents of Spanish Fork and Riverton can water their lawns and create an emerald contrast with the red mountains that rise behind their towns, but they can do it with water that has been sourced, managed, and priced for the job.
The Israeli Model
Without a doubt, nobody understands the value of water — or squeezes so much value out of every drop — as the tiny desert nation of Israel. The country recycles a staggering 75% of its wastewater, turning an annual water supply of 1.3 billion cubic meters into 2.0 billion cubic meters of water used. Put that into perspective: Singapore recycles 30% of its municipal wastewater; Spain reuses 12% of its wastewater, and the U.S. lags far behind with five to six percent.
Water recycling is woven into every aspect of Israel’s culture. When household detergents were contributing so much boron to the recycled wastewater stream that the overabundance of the nutrient threatened crops, the Israeli government sat down with detergent-makers to guide the introduction of boron-free products. Every apartment resident knows that his or her sink drains to a recycling plant that supplies the farms in the countryside. Reservoirs dot the arid landscape in an effort to capture scarce rainwater and impound recycled wastewater, relieving pressure on the shrinking Sea of Galilee.
Non-potable delivery pipes crisscross the nation, connecting the wastewater treatment plants of cities like Haifa and Beersheeva with cutting-edge farms throughout the nation. Water destined for non-edible crops is treated to a lesser degree than water to be used on edible crops, and strict rules govern what sorts of irrigation systems are appropriate to deliver the water. Farmers pay substantially less for reclaimed water than they would for potable supplies, so the economic incentives are all in place.
Israel knows the cost of the alternatives. Its residents have nowhere to go in search of wetter climates, so desalination of seawater is the next source of water for the tiny nation. It’s expensive and energy-intensive, but it’s vital. But you can bet that desalinated seawater won’t be applied to cotton or olive trees ... at least until it’s been used by consumers first. (See also: What Water Scarcity? Israel May Soon Have A Surplus)
Corporate Values
Corporate and commercial users of water in much of North America have started to realize that water can and should be treated to a level that’s appropriate to its use, and priced at a level that reflects its value.
All it takes to see that dynamic in action is a stroll down Las Vegas Boulevard. The oasis of palm trees and million-dollar landscaping, not to mention ponds and fountains, is built on recycled water. The MGM Treasure Island complex has its own reverse osmosis treatment plant to recycle sink and shower water from 3,000 guest rooms to use for water features and irrigation. The famous Bellagio fountains are fed by a well beneath the property and managed conservatively with intensive reuse to minimize consumption.
For all their glitz and flash, the big players in Vegas have got their sleeves rolled up and are elbow-deep in innovative water reuse projects. They recognize that drinking water is far too valuable in their desert community to waste — even on the lush landscaping that gives their property vital eye appeal and inspires guests to excess at the gaming tables.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District in the San Francisco Bay Area is another shining example of what can be done with reused water. The district’s facility in Richmond, CA, has a design capacity of 5.4 million gallons per day (mgd) for tertiary treatment, and another, secondary treatment line that recycles 3.5 mgd.
Tertiary-treated water from the plant is piped next door to a Chevron refinery’s cooling towers, reducing the company’s draw on local drinking water supplies by enough volume to serve more than 20,000 neighboring homes every day. Secondary-treated water is boiled to produce steam for the refinery. In all, Chevron is meeting about 70% of its daily water needs with recycled water. That’s a huge money-saver, and it has profound impacts on the local community and regional ecosystem.
Tiny Singapore Is The Pinnacle
The innovative NEWater recycling project by Singapore PUB sets a high global standard for water recycling. The tiny nation was on its way to its current population of five million, supported by wells, inland streams, and a handful of reservoirs, as well as water imported from neighboring Malaysia.
Since 1963, PUB has crafted a comprehensive water plan that identifies what it calls “the four national taps” — local catchement water, imported water, NEWater, and desalinated water. Needless to say, Singapore’s water leaders don’t see each of those taps as interchangeable, or as equal in cost or value.
Desalination accounts for about 10% of Singapore’s water needs, and the country is on its way to fulfilling 30% of its demand with desal by the year 2060. Right now, the NEWater plants can deliver 30% of the nation’s water, and the government plans to ramp that up to 50% by 2060.
The most exciting part of the success of NEWater is that it has been embraced by the people and industries of Singapore. Not only is some NEWater highly treated and disinfected stream blended into the nation’s drinking water supply, but it’s actually coveted by silicon chip manufacturers, who recognize that NEWater is treated so thoroughly that it is the nation’s purest supply of water.
There’s a country whose people appreciate the difference between “regular” water and “high-test.”
There are some promising projects afoot that can get the U.S. closer to that vision, including the Clean Water America Alliance’s One Water Networking program. It’s both holistic and realistic, recognizing that addressing the plurality of water requires stakeholders — from government agencies to foundations to NGOs — to get out of their silos and let their ideas and perspectives flow together.
We need to learn from the lessons of Singapore, Israel, Utah, and California. We need to support efforts to break down barriers to effective water policy and creative reenvisioning of water. We need to recognize that although the hydrologic cycle connects all water — and, yes, we are indeed drinking the same water as the dinosaurs did — the water we use should be valued and priced according to how we handle it and how we use it. I’ll drink to that.
About The Author
Jim Lauria is a water technology executive with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from Manhattan College. He has over 20 years of global experience as a senior executive in the water treatment industry. Jim is a marketing executive, engineer, writer, blogger, and water evangelist. He is a frequent speaker at water industry conferences and has published over 50 technical articles in water trade publications. He can be contacted at (805) 410-2674 or jimlauria@teamchem.com.
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