WateReuse Awards Ceremony Celebrates Leadership in Recycled Water

The WateReuse Association presented the 2015 WateReuse Award of Excellence to nine leaders in alternative water supply development during a Sept. 15 luncheon in Seattle, held in conjunction with the 30^th Annual WateReuse Symposium.

“Our awards committee selected leadership as the theme for this year’s awards program and the winners truly represent forward thinking approaches that can inspire others across the country and around the globe to produce, use, or champion recycled water,” said WateReuse Assn. President Bob Johnson of McManus and Johnson Consulting Engineers.

Awards were presented to leaders in the following categories:

• WateReuse Project of the Year – Large: The Sparta Reuse Facility in West Monroe, La., reversed a dire situation in which a local aquifer was being overdrawn at a rate of 18 million gallons per day beyond the recharge rate. The reuse program succeeded in providing quality process water at an economical rate to the largest user of the aquifer and the largest industrial employer in the area—the local paper mill.
• WateReuse Project of the Year – Small: The Woodland Creek Groundwater Recharge Facility in Lacey, Wash., is an underground infiltration facility that recharges groundwater with reclaimed water. The facility is hidden beneath a grassy recreational field that is heavily used by the community and is located within Woodland Creek Community Park. The addition of informational kiosk provides vital public education.
• WateReuse Industrial Project of the Year: The Kooragang Recycled Water Scheme in New South Wales, Australia provides high quality recycled water to industrial users and saves drinking water supplies for Hunter Water’s nearly one-half million users. It is estimated that one industrial user alone will save more than 2.3 billion liters of drinking water annually by using recycled water for industrial processing systems.
• WateReuse Agriculture Project of the Year: Pure Water Monterey in Monterey, Calif., is a multi-benefit, integrated, regional solution that will provide a water recycling model for other regions in drought-stricken California. Among the benefits is an increase in the water available for agriculture and produce processing in the Salinas Valley, which is the most productive agriculture region in the state.
• WateReuse Innovative Project of the Year:  WaterHub is an onsite water reclamation system located at Emory University’s main campus in Atlanta. Developed by Sustainable Water LLC, the system produces recycled water that is used as process make-up water in Emory’s steam and chiller plants and for toilet flushing in some residence halls.
• WateReuse Equipment Supplier/Manufacturer of the Year: TrojanUV, which is headquartered in Ontario, Canada, is a global leader in the manufacture of UV and UV-oxidation equipment for the advanced purification of water for reuse purposes. This past year, TrojanUV has provided equipment to new reuse treatment facilities in Cambria, Calif., and Wichita Falls, Texas, as well as to expanding advanced treatment facilities in Long Beach and Orange County, Calif.
• WateReuse Public Education Program of the Year: The King County (Wash.) Wastewater Treatment Div.’s Education Program aims to increase the communities’ understanding of and connection to the wastewater systems. In addition to speaking engagements, booths at public events, and a variety of print and electronic publications, the program includes two demonstration gardens and an urban farm, which highlight the use of biosolids and recycled water.
• WateReuse Customer of the Year: The historic Sample McDougal House Preservation Society in Pompano Beach, Fla., uses reclaimed water from the local utility to irrigate four acres that include green lawns, thriving trees and bushes, and a diverse vegetable garden. The benefits of this project to the community include saving potable water, assisting with ocean outfall requirements, mitigating saltwater intrusion, educating the public about water reuse, and reducing the carbon footprint.
• WateReuse Person of the Year: Karla Fowler, director of community relations and environmental policy for LOTT Clean Water Alliance in Olympia, Wash., has been a leader in advancing reclaimed water at the local, state, regional and national levels. She has been a steadfast advocate for LOTT’s reclaimed water program and serves on the advisory committee for Washington State’s reclaimed water rule-making process. Karla served as the lead in developing the first multi-state section of the WateReuse Association in the Pacific Northwest and co-chaired the planning committee for the 2015 Annual WateReuse Symposium.

The 30^th Annual WateReuse Symposium, which is co-sponsored by the American Water Works Assn. and the Water Environment Federation, continues in Seattle through Sept. 16.

Source: WateReuse