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OWASA to start construction on reclaimed water project

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Staff

The Orange Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors last week awarded nearly $7 million in contracts for construction of a reclaimed water system, the utility announced. Reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater that meets state standards for certain non-drinking uses.

The new system will enable the use of reclaimed water from OWASA’s Mason Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant instead of drinking water at several chilled water plants on the south side of the main campus. The chiller plants help cool air and equipment in buildings on the main campus. The university is also designing its new genomics building to use reclaimed water to flush toilets.

When it goes into operation, the system will reduce the university’s need for drinking water by an average of about 600,000 gallons per day, which equals about 7 percent of overall water demand in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community and about 25 percent of the university’s and UNC Hospitals’ demand. Reclaimed water use in the late spring, summer and early fall months is estimated to exceed 1 million gallons per day at times.

OWASA and the university say the use of reclaimed water could reduce drinking water demand by 2 million gallons per day or more as the system is extended to additional campus locations.

Construction will begin in a few weeks and the reclaimed water system will likely be in operation around March 2009. Under an agreement between OWASA and the university, OWASA will be reimbursed by the university for local costs of design and construction and will pay future rates and fees to cover operating, maintenance and management costs of the reclaimed water system. State and federal grants will cover more than $2 million of the design and construction costs.

The projects approved by the OWASA board include:

• Roughly $3 million for installation of more than 7,000 feet of 24-inch reclaimed water pipe from the Mason Farm plant to the southern campus. A major sewer line from the treatment plant to Manning Drive and north of Fordham Boulevard will also be replaced at a cost of about $4.9 million.

• About $3.9 million for installation of a 6-million-gallon per day reclaimed water pump station and 600,000-gallon storage tank at the Mason Farm plant.

In addition, OWASA recently received state approval to fill tank trucks with reclaimed water for certain purposes, such as irrigation, dust control and soil compaction, etc.

In evaluating its options for coping with the current drought, the utility is also studying a possible installation of a temporary, primarily above-ground reclaimed water line to south campus for use in 2008.  —Staff reports

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