LEAN TIMES FORCE NEW VIEW OF WASTEWATER BY MOLLY ADOLFSON and MIKE SHARAR Adolfson Associates The federal government is getting out of the wastewater business, leaving local governments across the nation to go it alone with the increasingly difficult job of providing cost-effective wastewater treatment and disposal, while protecting sensitive environmental resources. It is bad enough that facilities are aging and inefficient, service populations rapidly growing, grant money dwindling or disappearing, and residents and businesses unwilling to shoulder a higher financial burden for new or upgraded facilities. Add to that environmental constraints such as potentially adverse impacts to water quality or wildlife and you've got the makings for a serious management headache. This scenario is causing one regional wastewater management group to rethink the concept of wastewater and consider its potential as a resource. In the 1970s and '80s, when a city or county sought to improve its wastewater management system, federal funding was readily available. Public Law 92-500 (Clean Water Act) in 1972 brought subsequent legislation which authorized grants for wastewater facilities. In Washington state, 90 percent grant funding was available. This made capital-intensive wastewater management approaches both possible (from a ratepayer perspective) and desirable because a large facility could be constructed and operated for years. Today, there are no federal grants and very little grant funding available from states. Instead of capital facilities costing 10-cents on the dollar plus interest, they now cost 100-cents on Stretching LOTT's existing system includes marketing treated wastewater. the dollar. Management intensive, low capital cost, small increment wastewater treatment capacity options are now not only desirable (from a ratepayer perspective) they are mandatory. This new reality has considerably broadened the planning process currently being undertaken by the LOTT partners in Thurston County. LOTT is a regional partnership representing the cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater, and Thurston County. The group is responsible for protecting public health and the environment by providing wastewater treatment and disposal services for the urbanized areas of Thurston County. LOTT currently services a population of about 65,000 people; existing facilities may reach capacity by the year 2001. The LOTT treatment plant discharges to Budd Inlet on Puget Sound, near the city of Olympia. Plant capacity was originally expected to last through 2010; however, a high rate of development in the county, combined with serious stormwater "inflow" and groundwater "infiltration" problems (known as I&I), has severely reduced the plant's overall capacity. Recent high wet weather flows have brought a further sense of urgency to LOTT's wastewater management considerations. Population projections indicate some 134,000 people will be connected to the LOTT sewer system by 2010. The LOTT partnership is currently drafting its Wastewater Resource Management Plan to ensure it can safely serve this future population. The plan evaluates nine options to determine which provides the best wastewater management option for the region. A team of engineering, environmental analysis and public involvement consultants, including Brown and Caldwell Consultants, Adolfson Associates, Inc., and Barney & Worth, is assisting LOTT to develop, evaluate and obtain public input on the proposed management plan. A series of public meetings and surveys with LOTT customers, community leaders, area residents, and business owners have shown that protecting the environment and maintaining low costs are both high priorities. The LOTT service area includes extensive shorelines, with rich fisheries and shellfish resources, as well as other sensitive natural resources. Many area residents have expressed strong concerns about continuing to discharge wastewater to Puget Sound. Members of the community have also stressed that any wastewater management plan considered should stretch the capacity of the existing plant, and look at options other than traditional marine discharge. All this, and cost-effectiveness too! New ways to manage sewage One of the ways LOTT is seeking to maximize existing wastewater management capacity is by looking for effective, permanent ways to reduce per capita wastewater flows. Currently LOTT receives about 80 gallons a day from each person with a residence connected to the system. Reducing these flows delays the need for new treatment capacity. Some flow reduction techniques which LOTT is considering include: fixture replacement (i.e., trade older toilets for low-flow models now required in new construction) graywater separation repair/replacement of older, leaking sidesewers support for horizontal-axis laundry machines water conservation activities which impact "down the drain" flows. Another option LOTT is examining to stretch the capacity of existing facilities is to increase the use of the existing plant in the winter, when wastewater flows are at their maximum. Obtaining permits for different winter and summer discharge limits may be possible provided they protect beneficial uses. LOTT is also looking for ways to use flow meters and computer models to more precisely estimate flow increases, which would allow existing capacity to be managed more closely. More precise estimating of when new capacity will actually be required minimizes the risk of delaying construction until the maximum possible number of connections (and revenue) are in place. Marketing wastewater Finally, LOTT is also conducting in-depth research into ways to market treated wastewater. If LOTT can provide highly treated or "reclaimed" water for irrigation or industrial use, or to recharge drinking water supplies, there may be a possibility of generating revenues as well as conserving shrinking water resources. In order to market reclaimed water, LOTT must first overcome negative perceptions about wastewater as a public health hazard. Wastewater reclamation and re-use, while widely used in more arid parts of the country, is less familiar to the "water rich" regions such as the Puget Sound area. This concept involves treating wastewater to a high degree and using it for purposes such as irrigation of non-food crops, industrial cooling or non-potable process waters, and other uses where water is not consumed. Many Arizona and California golf courses use reclaimed water for irrigation; it reduces their water demand and provides a reliable year- round source of water during even the most severe droughts. Of course, Arizona and California have a high density of golf courses coupled with a nearly year-round demand for irrigation water, which increases the attractiveness of this option, but it has advantages for our area, as well. Water is becoming increasingly scarce in Washington; increased demands upon the local aquifers have resulted in a steady decline in groundwater levels. Thurston County, which relies almost exclusively upon groundwater for its water supply, is experiencing this phenomenon. Declining groundwater levels affect local streams and rivers, where groundwater-fed base flows have steadily declined during the summer months. Declining base flows affect local fisheries and other aquatic organisms. Relieving some of the summer demand upon groundwater by reclaiming wastewater for irrigation can help sustain groundwater levels as well as reduce pollutant levels being discharged to Puget Sound. The LOTT partners are also examining a number of options that include continued or increased discharge to Puget Sound, as well as discharging highly treated wastewater to area rivers or constructed wetlands, in an attempt to offset low-flow related water quality problems. Their planning efforts represent an attempt to look at wastewater management in a comprehensive manner. By viewing wastewater as a resource instead of just "sewage" with all of its negative public connotations, LOTT is stepping outside the typical down the drain approach, and identifying some potential win-win approaches to wastewater management. Molly J. Adolfson is president of Adolfson Associates, Inc., and is managing the environmental evaluation for the LOTT Wastewater Resources Management Plan. Mike Sharar is Partnership Administrator for the LOTT Wastewater Management Partnership.