AUSTIN, Texas — Water experts warn don't be fooled by recent rainfall. Central Texas still faces a drought and depleting water supplies.
The KVUE Defenders have been looking into how communities are addressing water scarcity and planning for the future. What they found was more cities are turning to reclaimed water, or treated city wastewater, for non-drinking and drinking purposes.
In the heart of the country's fastest-growing city, you'll often find James Anthony entertaining in Georgetown's Town Square. But singing and playing his guitar isn't Anthony's only passion. Conserving water is another.
One way Anthony saved on water was by not watering his lawn this past summer.
"When it doesn't rain all summer, you start running out of water," Anthony said.
That's what Anthony and others experienced weeks ago when Georgetown struggled with water supply issues that triggered the western portion of the city into Stage 3 drought restrictions.
From mid-July to the end of September, only hand watering was allowed, but not everyone followed the guidelines.
According to the City of Georgetown, staffers assessed $32,240 in watering violation fines from 2,643 cases from April 1 through Oct. 30, 2023.
"People were obviously, definitely concerned about it," said Georgetown City Manager David Morgan.
Morgan said they're taking steps to avoid that situation again from signing a two-year agreement with EPCOR to reserve up to 55 million gallons of water from Robertson County, to rehabilitating the existing North Lake Water Treatment Plant which should be completed soon.
The city is also building the new South Lake Water Treatment Plant. Morgan said the first phase is expected to be completed by the summer of 2025, with the second phase coming online later in 2026. The latter two projects will eventually add 52 million gallons of water.
But as fast as Georgetown is growing, it may not be enough.
"The growth of Georgetown is absolutely an impact on our water utility," Morgan said.
The Census Bureau ranks Georgetown as the fastest-growing city in the country with more than 86,500 residents in 2022, up from more than 75,000 people in 2021, which is about a 14% increase.
But Georgetown's water district also serves customers outside city limits with service extending into Bell and Burnet counties. In all, it has 57,000 service connections. With an average of about 5,000 new connections every year, Morgan said those numbers show why conservation is also necessary.
"I think everyone needs to be thinking about how to use water differently," Morgan said.
Especially when 75% of outdoor irrigation comes from drinking water during the summer when demand peaks. To relieve some of that demand, the city uses reclaimed water, or treated city wastewater, for non-drinking purposes. Georgetown is doing that for all six of its golf courses, plus some parks and other green spaces.
The city is using public service announcements to try to get residents to save water, but Morgan knows getting the public's buy-in for another conservation effort may be harder.
"We're doing a wastewater reuse plan right now to treat the water to where it can be potable. So that you can actually put that water directly back into the drinking supply," Morgan said.
The city's long-range plan explores the process of using reclaimed water for drinking purposes. That study is expected to be completed in 2024, and it's an idea that's catching on in Central Texas.
"The public perception at first was this ick factor, right," said Brandon Pritchett, the Utility Director for the City of Pflugerville.
He said Pflugerville is seriously looking into using reclaimed water for drinking purposes. Pflugerville is already expanding its reclaimed water for non-drinking purposes, but Pritchett said the big challenge is public perception and education.
"They don't realize or understand the technology that goes into the treatment," Pritchett said.
He also said what many don't know is that the treatment for turning reclaimed water into drinking water is extensive and, depending on the process, can even exceed drinking water standards. He said something else people may not know is that they've likely already had treated wastewater.
"So, the water that we're all drinking has been a wastewater at some point or is being classified as a wastewater at some point," Pritchett said.
Texas cities like Big Springs and Wichita Falls are already recycling water for drinking purposes. El Paso is next.
As for Austin?
"That's not in the plan for Austin right now," said Katherine Jashinski with Austin Water.
Instead, the supervising engineer said they're focused on onsite water reuse systems, a system the city's Permitting and Development Center in North Austin started using last year.
"An onsite water reuse system is a system that collects water from buildings," Jashinski said.
Water from rain, condensation from air conditioning, and wastewater from within the building is treated and reused for non-drinking purposes, like flushing toilets and irrigation.
On November 9th, the Austin City Council delayed the start of a new city ordinance that would require such systems for developments of 250,000 square feet and larger. Before the council action, the new ordinance was set to start on December 1, 2023.
Jasinski said the new ordinance is expected to go into effect April 2024.
"This building still uses the city's water for drinking and things like that, the faucets, and the drinking fountains. But you don't need to have drinking water, for example, in your toilets and to irrigate the landscape," Jashinski said.
Reclaimed water gained traction during the regular legislative session earlier this year as lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1289.
The new law, which took effect Sept. 1, gets rid of regulatory barriers for onsite water reuse systems and the reuse of Blackwater. Blackwater is wastewater from toilets and bathrooms that contain fecal matter and urine, while greywater is wastewater from sinks and baths. Both require different treatments.
"All of the easy and cheap ways of getting water are exhausted," said Noelle George, the Texas Managing Director for WateReuse Association.
She said that's why we're seeing more Texas cities and utilities explore alternative water strategies and why her group is focused on large-scale water reclamation. Experts like her said it's just too expensive for residential use right now.
Meantime, Anthony hopes water conservation isn't just a dream.
Like his music, he hopes the idea will spread.