According to projections, existing water resources will not be able to keep up with demand. Image: Frisco Public Works

By Bill Sullivan

According to the most recent draft of the State Water Plan, Texas faces serious challenges in keeping up with demand in the years to come. By 2060, based on current growth estimates, new reservoirs, existing reservoirs, ground water and interconnecting lakes will provide only about 77 percent of our water requirements.

What about the rest? Forecasts call for a whopping 23 percent to come from conservation and reuse. By just about anyone’s standards, that’s a whole lot of shorter showers and cutting back on watering the lawn.

“Without that critical part, the state of Texas is projecting that we can’t meet our water needs,” says Gary Hartwell, Frisco’s Director of Public Works. “So, we can’t continue to use water the way we have been.”

Hartwell and the city aren’t waiting to be overtaken by events. Frisco remains a growing community, and making sure there is enough water to go around is essential to the city’s overall plan.

Reuse is about to become a major component in that strategy. And, no, we are not talking about dirty or contaminated water flowing back into the system. After the appropriate treatment at one of two facilities presently in operation, the water Hartwell is talking about is almost good enough to drink — and certainly good enough to water city parks, school athletic fields or golf courses.

“Essentially, reuse is taking treated wastewater before it is discharged into the stream and moving it to irrigation purposes or agricultural purposes,” he said. “This treated wastewater is very, very clean. It’s clean enough to release into streams where you have your fish and wildlife.”

This Water Reuse Pump Facility will help the city reuse treated water for school irrigation systems and other uses. Image: Frisco Public Works

Currently, Frisco has two operating wastewater treatment plants available for reuse. One has the capacity to produce five million gallons of water a day; the other is being expanded to handle 10 million gallons. The city also has obtained a Type 1 usage permit for the treated water, which allows the product to be used in close proximity to people.

“That’s essentially 15 million gallons of water a day that is available to us if we have the system to deliver it where the irrigation needs are,” Hartwell said.

To that end, the City of Frisco has prepared a Reuse Master Plan, outlining where water lines could be installed all across Frisco over the next five years and on through the complete build-out of the city. In the short term, the focus is on locations adjacent to the park system and large school campuses that are in relatively close proximity to existing pipes.

At the moment, the city has has three reuse customers: Common areas of Pearson Farms, a greenbelt near the Stewart Creek West Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the Trails of Frisco Golf Course. Water is discharged into one of the ponds at the course and pumped from there as needed. The course is serviced by an existing 24” reuse line that can easily be tapped to deliver water to several nearby schools.

“When we were preparing the Master Plan, we actually went to the school district and asked what they thought about focusing on their campuses, and they were supportive of that idea,” Hartwell says. “Over the past year, we have met with the school district to move beyond an idea or concept to something that might really happen.”

About a month ago, Hartwell received an e-mail from City Manager George Purefoy advising of a joint work session with the city council and school board. Hartwell put together a presentation about the reuse program for the combined group.

When School Superintendent Dr. Rick Reedy asked about the cost benefits, Hartwell had a good and popular answer: Potable water comes at a cost of about $3 per thousand gallons, while the reusable water cost about 75 cents per thousand.

In addition to freeing up school district money for classroom use, reuse water also could make an enormous difference in times of drought. During peak watering times in summer, the city’s usage increases greatly. With the two treatment plants providing 15 million gallons, the demand for potable water could be reduced significantly, easing the drain on lakes.

During droughts, reuse water would not be subject to the same restrictions as potable water. Including it in the mix also would help delay, reduce, or even eliminate expansion of the water system, resulting in a significant savings to residents.

To make sure reuse water stays out of the mainstream, pipes carrying the water are purple, either painted or wrapped. Signage also will be deployed to distinguish reuse lines from their potable counterparts.

Distinctive purple pipes assure that reuse water is kept separate from the city's regular water lines. Image: Frisco Public Works

For water management purposes, the state is divided into 16 regions, all of whom are drafting plans to meet needs for the next 50 years as part of developing the next State Water Plan, due in 2012. Frisco is in Region C, which includes the likes of Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties. While the plan has a half-century reach, estimates suggest a gap between supply and demand by 2020, if not before.

Mindful of all that, the city is taking proactive measures to assure an adequate supply. Frisco, in fact, may be one of the few municipalities aggressively pursuing a reuse program.

“We’re at the cutting edge,” Hartwell said. “You’ve got to go to San Antonio to see a good reuse program. In the circles in which we run, I don’t recall anyone talking about their reuse program. I’m not saying other cities don’t have it, but I’m not aware of it.”

Hartwell hopes the city will start seeing the fruits of all this forward thinking by early next year.

“If things continue to work out well, I would like to think we might have a couple of schools using reuse water next spring,” he said. “It’s that close for us.”