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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-03-2004-6dORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: February 3, 2004 Action Agenda Item No. Ln -J SUBJECT: OWASA Water Reclamation and Reuse, Biosolids Land Application Programs DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): OWASA Cover Letter w/Attachments Water Reuse Feasibility Study Project INFORMATION CONTACT: Ed Kerwin, OWASA Executive Director 919-968-4421 Brief Paul Thames, ext. 2300 Key Principles To Be Included In Letter TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Of Understanding Between Hillsborough 732-8181 OWASA And University Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To present the BOCC with information about OWASA's: 1) planned Water Reclamation and Reuse Program and proposed implementation of water reclamation and reuse system with the University; and 2) biosolids land application program. BACKGROUND: For some time, OWASA has been interested in the prospect of utilizing reclaimed wastewater to meet at least some of the water demands of its customers that do not necessarily require potable water. OWASA has partnered with its largest water customer, the University of North Carolina, to study the feasibility of water reuse. Specifically, OWASA and the University hired Hazen and Sawyer, an environmental and engineering consultant, to produce the Water Reclamation and Reuse Study. The study was completed in dune 2003, The University and OWASA have concluded, on the basis of this study and follow-tap pilot studies, that it is technically, environmentally and economically feasible to use reclaimed wastewater to meeting many non-potable water needs on the University's main campus. Now OWASA and the University are planning to jointly develop a water reclamation and reuse system. The BOCC has requested that OWASA present information to the Board and the public at a regular televised BOCC meeting. Mark Marcoplos, OWASA Board Chair, will make that presentation at the BOCC's February 3, 2004 meeting. OWASA also operates a waste treatment process/program in which it land applies biosolids derived from its wastewater treatment plant. Historically, OWASA has land applied biosolids in Orange and Chatham Counties on land that it owns and land owned by others. Biosolids, which have a fairly high nutrient content, are generally applied to land at agronomic rates (as fertilizer) in a process that is regulated and permitted by the NC Division of Water Quality. Concerned residents living near biosolids application sites have recently brought the land application of biosolids in Orange County, particularly by utilities from outside the County, to the attention of the BOCC. The BOCC has requested that OWASA discuss its biosolids land application program during its presentation on its water reclamation and reuse project. OWASA staff will be prepared to make a brief presentation, answer BOCC questions and distribute a written summary. FINANCIAL IMPACT: None RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive the OWASA presentation as information. OWASd4 ORANGE WA'T'ER & SEWER AUTHORITY Quality Service Since 1977 .January 29, 2004 Mr. John Link, Jr.. Orange County Manager Post Office Box 8181 Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 SUBJECT: OWASA INFORMATION FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S FEBRUARY 3, 2004 MEETING Dear John: As follow-up to our discussion, I am enclosing summary information about OWASA's planned Water Reclamation and Reuse Program. Mark Marcoplos, Chair of the OWASA Board of Directors, is prepared to make a presentation at the Board of County Commissioners' February 3, 2004 meeting regarding this program. The OWASA Board discussed moving forward with the University to implement a water reclamation and reuse system at its January 22, 2004 Board meeting. The OWASA Board may take formal action on a Letter, of Understanding with the University at its next regular meeting on Thursday, February 12, 2004 at 7:00 P.M. in the OWASA Community Room, 400 .Jones Ferry Road in Carrboro, I also understand that the Board of County Commissioners would like an overview of OWASA's Biosolids Land Application Program. The OWASA staff will be prepared to make a brief presentation about our program and we will distribute a written summary at the February 3, 2004 meeting. We very much appreciate the opportunity to provide information to the Board of County Commissioners, Sincerely, Ed Kerwin Executive Director Enclosure EIUao c: OWASA Board of Directors Mr. Paul Thames, Orange County Engineer 400 hones Ferry Road Equal Opportunity Employer Voice (919) 968-4421 PO Box 366 Printed on Recycled Paper FAX (919) 968-4464 Carrboro, NC 2 75 1 0-03 66 1111,1V oolasa. org OWASA AND UNC-CHAPEL HILL January 2004 PROJECT BRIEF: ` WATER REUSE FEASIBILITY STUDY Background Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (the University) plan to ,jointly develop a new water reclamation and reuse system that would provide many important benefits to the community and the environment Highly treated "reclaimed" water from OWASA's Mason Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) would initially be used to meet some of the major water demands on the University's main campus. The water reuse system will be expandable to serve non-University customers in the future where it is practical to do so. The reclaimed water system would be financially self- supporting, and the University would pay its full and fair share of the cost of reclaimed water service. The proposed use of reclaimed water demonstrates OWASA's and the University's shared commitment to meet long-term water and sewer service needs in a more sustainable manner. OWASA and the University have partnered on a study to determine the feasibility of water reuse. Based on the findings of the Water Reclamation and Reuse Feasibility Study (Hazen and Sawyer; June 2003) and extensive follow- up pilot studies, OWASA and the University have concluded it is technically, economically, and environmentally feasible to use reclaimed water to meet many nonpotable water needs on the main campus. If developed, the planned reclaimed water system would be the largest and most diverse water reuse system in the State of North Carolina. What Are the Key Conclusions From the Study? Key findings of the reuse feasibility study are: • Effluent from OWASA's WWTP will consistently and reliably meet the State's reclaimed water standards; • With additional on-site treatment by the University, reclaimed water from OWASA will be suitable for use in the University's cooling tower and boiler operations and for irrigation and toilet flushing; • The University's on-site water treatment costs will increase by up to 50 percent if reclaimed water is used in the cooling towers and boilers; and • The development of a reclaimed water system is more cost-effective than developing the facilities needed to withdraw and use water from Jordan Lake. The high duality effluent front the Mason Fann WJVTP should no longer be viewed as rvastervater. It will be an increasingly valuable source of water for the future. What Are the Proiected Capital Costs? Initial plans include construction of a new reclaimed water pump station and storage tank at OWASA's WWTP and installation of more than two miles of new reclaimed water distribution lines from the plant up to the main campus. The initial capital cost is estimated to be about $7 million. At startup in 2007, the reclaimed water demand would be about 0.75 million gallons per, day (mgd), which is around 7 percent of OWASA's total water demands. Year 2026 demands for reclaimed water are projected to be as high as 2.8 mgd, or about 15 percent of the community's projected total water demand, Additional reclaimed water lines will need to be built to meet the projected long-term demand. What Are the Strategic Benefits of Water Reuse? Water reuse offers many important benefits to OWASA, the University, the Carrboro-Chapel Hill community, and the environment, The use of reclaimed water will: • Allow OWASA to meet non-potable water needs in a cost-effective manner, while freeing up the community's valuable drinking water supply and treatment capacities to meet essential needs; • Lower risk for all customers during water shortages caused by future droughts; • Optimize use of locally-controlled renewable resources; • Defer or eliminate certain long-tern capital improvements due to reduced demand for potable water; • Defer or eliminate the need to develop costly facilities necessary to obtain water from Jordan Lake; and • Reduce the discharge of pollutants to streams. What Are the Next Steps? OWASA and the University are working to develop a Letter of Understanding that sets forth the guiding principles and general framework for developing, operating, and financing the proposed water reuse system. The goal is to have the system operational on or before fuly 1, 2007. Extensive engineering services will be required to design and manage the construction of the reclaimed water system and then to implement it. Due to the high capital costs, OWASA and the University are seeking supplemental Federal and State grant funds for the project. To achieve major savings in the capital costs of the reclaimed water system, the University is now designing and making arrangements to install reclaimed water lines concurrent with ongoing campus construction projects, 5 KEY PRINCIPLES TO BE INCLUDED IN THE LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN OWASA AND THE UNIVERSITY FOR THE PLANNED WATER RECLAMATION AND REUSE SYSTEM The Letter of Understanding would be an agreement under which OWASA and the University would commit to move forward with plans and final arrangements for the development, operation, maintenance, and financing of the proposed water reclamation and reuse system. Based on discussions by the OWASA Board of Directors and the University, the key guiding principles in the Letter of Understanding are expected to include the following: • The reclaimed water system would be financially self-supporting Consistent with the requirements of the Agreements of Sale and Purchase between OWASA, the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and the University, the reclaimed water rates, fees, and charges would fully recover all of OWASA's costs associated with constructing, operating, maintaining, and managing the water reclamation and reuse system. In other words, reclaimed water rates would reflect the true "cost- of-service" for the reclaimed water system, and the University would pay its full and fair share of the cost of reclaimed water service. • The University would commit to using reclaimed water rather than potable water in specified amounts and at specified facilities on the main campus. • OWASA would commit to providing reclaimed water of acceptable quality and in the specified amounts needed at the targeted demand centers on the main campus. • The initial reclaimed water system will be designed and constructed to have excess capacity available to serve non-University customers where practical to do so in the future. OWASA will have sole authority to approve extensions of and connections to the reclaimed water system. • OWASA will determine the rates, fees, and charges for reclaimed water service, • Both parties would work together to complete the planned system on or before July 1, 2007, SOME RELATED FINANCIAL ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS OF WATER REUSE • By substituting reclaimed water to meet demands previously met with potable water, OWASA's potable water sales volumes, and therefore potable water revenues, will initially decline. This is likely to require an offsetting increase in the potable water rates charged to all water customers, including the University which is OWASA's largest customer. • Based on a preliminary analysis, the initial projected effect on potable water revenues could be the equivalent of about an 8 to 9 percent increase above the current effective potable water rate, or a 3 to 4 percent increase in the combined monthly water and sewer bill for a typical residential customer of OWASA. That is about $1.80 per month more for the typical single family residential customer • The effect on potable water, system revenues and rates will depend on several factors, including the reclaimed water and potable water demand levels, the portion of General and Administrative expenses recovered through reclaimed water rates and fees, and the amount of Federal and State grant funds that may be received for the project,. • Although potable water rates may need to be increased as a result of water reuse or other large-scale water conservation measures, those rate increases must be weighed against the many important benefits that water reuse has to offer all OWASA customers. One important benefit is that through water reuse, OWASA expects that future potable water rates would be lower than they would be without reuse.