In late April, a report aimed at addressing institutional hurdles to potable reuse was released jointly by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ReNUWIt (Reinventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure) research consortium and The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread. The groups convened a workshop of potable reuse leaders with the goals of helping utilities that are thinking about or pursuing potable reuse projects to develop and/or implement their approach and informing “U.S. EPA, state agencies, and other key stakeholders about how they can support the expansion of potable water reuse across the United States.”
The report identifies ingredients for a successful potable reuse project including: building legitimacy; project planning and development; and creating an enabling policy environment. It says having states establish rules and permitting approaches to potable reuse implementation has encouraged innovation. Several topics for a national research agenda aimed at addressing institutional challenges to potable reuse are identified, including governance, incentives, facility operations and mainstreaming.
The document concludes with a list of recommendations for utility leaders and others for advancing potable reuse on a broad scale or for implementing singular potable reuse projects.