WRAP MONTHLY UPDATE – DECEMBER 2021

Action Highlights

• National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) Annual Meeting – NAWI, a research consortium formed in 2017 that supports early-stage research on technology solutions to develop new water sources, hosted an annual meeting in December. This year, participants discussed NAWI’s Master Roadmap and how it was distilled from five more focused PRIMA (Power, Resource Extraction, Industrial, Municipal, and Agriculture) Roadmaps to highlight key areas of identified research interest, the development of WaterTAP and WaterDAM analysis tools, and selection of new R&D projects. Other highlights included a discussion on the water-agriculture nexus and a presentation from the NextGen community – a program focused on convening early-career scientists and engineers in the NAWI Alliance. This recording is available to NAWI members (Action 4.6: Implement and Manage the NAWI Energy-Water Desalination Hub).
• Understanding and Minimizing Arsenic Mobilization in Aquifer Storage and Recovery Projects – In an informational webinar, the Ground Water Protection Council hosted presenters from the University of Texas at Austin to discuss arsenic mobilization during managed aquifer recharge. Speakers presented a framework for developing a site-specific conceptual model of arsenic mobility to understand and mitigate potential risks to water quality (Action 7.4: Increase Understanding of Current Aquifer Storage and Recovery Practices).
• Over $3 Million Awarded to Small Businesses to Develop Environmental Technologies – EPA announced over $3 million in funding to 30 American small businesses to develop novel technologies to address pressing environmental and public health problems. There were six awardees under the topic of Clean & Safe Water. These small businesses are employing innovative approaches like a smart-sensor approach to automate and optimize agricultural water reuse and a compact, modular system for rapid, fully automated treatment of domestic greywater for non-potable onsite reuse (Action 7.5: Coordinate and Promote Water Reuse Technology in Federal Small Business Innovation Research Programs).
• Workshop to Inform Water and Wastewater Research, Development, and Deployment Programs – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) held a workshop to help inform the Advanced Manufacturing Office’s (AMO) future research, development, and deployment programs in the energy-water nexus. The first session (recorded) included presentations by action leaders Paula Kehoe, Melissa Klembara, and Sharon Nappier. The session set the stage for discussion on AMO energy-water nexus programs, ongoing analysis, and perspectives from data, agriculture, municipal/utility, and small-scale community sectors. Topics for the interactive breakout sessions included municipal water systems, agriculture, and small-scale community water systems.
• Reuse Presentations at the Oklahoma Governor’s Water Conference and Research Symposium – The Oklahoma Governor’s Water Conference featured recorded presentations on water resource management, development, and protection. Topics included Oklahoma’s 2025 Comprehensive Water Plan, water reuse projects, flood preparedness, and water infrastructure, among others. Action leaders Sharon Nappier and Pat Sinicropi presented on the WRAP and trends in water reuse, respectively.

Spotlight on WRAP Strategic Theme: Science and Specifications

WRAP actions under the science and specifications theme aim to compile existing fit-for-purpose treatment specifications for all potential end uses of reclaimed water to facilitate a better understanding and consideration of potential sources and use applications. The examples below, while not exhaustive, provide a snapshot of activities under this theme.

• Compilation of Existing Fit-for-Purpose Specifications – This action compiles state water reuse regulations and guidelines and highlights the underlying scientific and technical basis of the water quality metrics. This is intended to be a resource for stakeholders interested in developing laws or policies for reuse, those wanting to better understand the technical aspect of a regulation or guideline, and/or to quickly identify whether certain reuse applications are regulated within a particular state. In early 2022, EPA and eight partner organizations aim to launch a web-based tool for exploring water reuse regulations that will be searchable by state, source of water, and end use. The first end-uses available will be potable water reuse, onsite non-potable water reuse, and other centralized non-potable reuse applications, not including agricultural and landscape reuse applications. Subsequent content will be added in phases throughout the year (Action 3.1).

• Research and Training for Onsite Non-Potable Water Systems – The National Blue Ribbon Commission for Onsite Non-Potable Water Systems (NBRC for ONWS) and action partners have both independently and collaboratively published various papers, training manuals, and webinars on technical guidance for ONWS, graywater and wastewater non-potable log reduction targets, and bacterial communities in graywater and its infrastructure, available from the WRAP Online Platform and Reuse Information Library. Most recently, EPA’s Office of Research and Development contributed to a quantitative microbial risk assessment paper studying Staphylococcus aureus in reclaimed wastewaters (Action 3.4).

• Funding Awards for Reuse Research on Viral Indicators – EPA awarded $6 million in funding for five grants to support research projects to help broaden our understanding of pathogens in water intended for reuse and the level of treatment needed to protect public health. These awards were part of the STAR grant program which stimulates and supports scientific and engineering research that advances EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment (Action 3.6).