The setup
Water reclamation involves water that has already been used, such as sewage or other wastewater, that's recycled for nondrinking purposes.
City leaders and Austin Water have been looking to expand water reuse in the city as a strategy to both cut down on water costs and save more water in the face of climate change; the latter ties into Austin's long-range Water Forward conservation and resilience plan.
“When we look at planning for our water future, what we are looking for is, what are the strategies that we can implement today that work for the broadest set of possible future outcomes?" AW Director Shay Ralls Roalson said during a February briefing.
Nonpotable reclaimed water can be recycled within a building from air conditioning, stormwater and gray water from sources such as sinks. Larger-scale water reuse systems can take in water from those sources from buildings around the city.
Many newer projects in Austin, including civic facilities—such as the Austin Energy headquarters, Central Library and Permitting and Development Center—have included reuse systems on-site. And since the 1990s, AW has spent hundreds of millions of dollars building out public "purple pipe" infrastructure mainly around downtown, Mueller and Southeast Austin, including Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
What happened
As part of the AW GoPurple initiative, named after the purple pipes that carry reclaimed water, City Council approved several program changes March 12. Those included:
- Adding a new AW residential charge of $0.15 per thousand gallons used to fund GoPurple, estimated at a monthly impact of $1.47 for the average customer
- Setting new on-site water reuse requirements for bigger developments in the city
- Incentivizing the inclusion of reclaimed systems in new projects
AW projects that on-site water reuse will save Austin 6 million gallons of drinking water per day by 2040, while communitywide reclaimed water systems will save 10 million gallons daily.
The savings are notable for conservation purposes but will also help delay costly payments to the Lower Colorado River Authority under a decades-old agreement based on Austin's water usage from the Colorado River and Highland Lakes.
Tens of millions of dollars in annual charges to the LCRA, initially expected to be triggered by 2015 based on past usage projections, have been held off to-date thanks to ongoing civic conservation efforts, according to AW.
The specifics
The new residential GoPurple Community Benefit Charge will apply citywide but exempts Austin Water's more than 51,000 customers on its lower-income assistance program.
For developers, city leaders clarified how buildings should implement on-site reuse and expanded the number of projects that'll link up to AW's own reclaimed water systems. Generally, larger multifamily developments that are located near the utility's purple pipe lines will either have to connect to those, or include reuse systems on-site.
New facilities that fall under those mandates will be eligible for some financial support from AW, such as funding for the infrastructure and rebates for water conservation.
The changes were approved with a carve-out for affordable housing projects, which are typically built on tight financial margins, given the costs associated with modern reuse systems.
While some concern was raised about the impact of the GoPurple updates on residents and for income-restricted housing projects, council member Alison Alter said she believes the changes for utility customers could end up leveling out.
"This is an investment in our future as a city. I share the concern about the affordability, but I do want to point out that when we adopted the Wildland-Urban Interface [wildfire prevention] code, there were lots of worries about what that would cost, and it has effectively ended up being even as I understand it," she said. "I think we’re going to see lots of things change over time where what we’re doing with reclaimed water is going to make an enormous difference for the families and the business owners who adopt it."
AW plans to propose additional GoPurple rate and incentive changes during the city's annual budget process this summer. Additionally, Austinites wishing to contribute even more to AW's reclaimed water efforts will soon be able to do so through expanded "Purple Choice" voluntary rate programs starting this fall.
Also of note
A resolution from council member Mackenzie Kelly also approved March 7 will see AW launch a new educational campaign about the utility's WaterWise sustainable landscaping rebate program.
