According to a study that began last year, San Angelo, Texas, has less than 15 months of water before it is all dried up.
In light of this knowledge, the city is very seriously considering turning to potable reuse as a source of drinking water.
The city’s water utility director, Bill Riley, doesn’t think there will be any problems getting permission but is concerned that the public will have a very negative reaction.
San Angelo was considering releasing the treated wastewater back into the environment before it enters the drinking system, but on the whole, the city agrees that this would waste water and money leaving more of a toilet-to-tap solution, which is less desirable to consumers for obvious reasons.
Water Online reports:
“The city, which uses about 13,000 acre-feet of water per year, is running out of the water. “All the major cities in West Texas — Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, San Angelo and Abilene — are under some kind of water restrictions,” the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported. San Angelo relies on the Hickory Aquifer, a minor aquifer in the middle of the state, according to the water development board.
“We can’t meet all our city needs with just the Hickory,” Riley said, per the Standard-Times. “We could use some of the water out of Lake Nasworthy and Twin Buttes Reservoir to prolong the Hickory water while we’re developing something else, but if we were having to pull the maximum amount that we can out of the Hickory, you’d see that by 2022 all the banked water will be gone.”
So far, Wichita Falls, TX, is the only U.S. city to serve recycled wastewater to homes, according to KALW, a public radio station.”
While this drought solution may not appeal to the palate of most water consumers, it is one that many drought-stricken cities are turning to and may well be the future of drinking water in these areas for many years.
Future Demand for water and demand management solutions continue to be in front of mind during the prolonged drought that is impacting the west of the USA.
Service Levels that are acceptable to the community are also an on-going consideration, and this is where water re-use proposals need to be thoroughly tested to ensure acceptability to consumers.
Part of community concerns about water re-use proposals will be around the risks associated with this type of water, versus the use of more traditional bore and open water sources.
Defining risks and communicating these is also an on-going part of infrastructure asset management.
Good communication with communities and decision-makers is essential during the consideration of new or different water sources, and the time required for this must be factored into your infrastructure management planning.
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