Questions About the Water Supply Plan→

Brendon Slotterback, writing for Streets.mn:

MPR

“White Bear Lake is looking less like a lake all the time. The Met Council has released a report with a few solutions to this issue, all which involve relying more on surface water (rivers) and less on groundwater. The proposed solutions range in price from $155 million to over $600 million. The options are myriad, but all involve long pipes to existing or new water treatment plants that use water from the Mississippi River. Options for areas served vary, but the study area includes communities totaling 157,823 people in 2010 (208,580 projected in 2040).

However, the report seems insufficient to me. It lacks answers to lots of important questions that members of the Metropolitan Council (and residents of the region) should be asking. Here are a few I came up with as I was reading:”

Brendon has 6 questions then asks one more:

“Where is the conservation alternative? The cost and feasibility of reducing water use are not analyzed as part of the report. Building nothing and simply asking/incentivizing/requiring people to use less may be the cheapest option. ”

— http://netdensity.net/2014/07/28/3312/

Conservation matters, ... Look at the waste on lawns. Judge conservation on no change in potable water use, do you?

Reuse: The Next Wave for Water Conservation→

Rachel Cernansky, writing for ENSIA: 

“Today, due mainly to increasing drought conditions and groundwater depletion, nonpotable uses are expanding. Municipalities are figuring out more ways to treat sewage less like waste and more like a resource. In addition to watering golf greens, recycled water is being used for street cleaning, fire-fighting, geothermal energy production, preventing seawater intrusion into freshwater aquifers, industrial processing, commercial laundering, restoring natural wetlands and creating constructed wetlands.

“Everything that goes down the drain here is treated and reused,” says Greg Flores, vice president of public affairs for the San Antonio Water System, citing university campuses, the San Antonio River Walk, and Toyota and Microsoft facilities as examples.

The more notable change, however, is that a growing number of municipalities are shifting toward or considering “potable reuse” — recycling wastewater into drinking water.”

Steve Crise, AWWA

Do not assume anything. Clear your mind must be if you are to discover the real benefits of water reuse.