WSU Wastewater Reclamation Project
WSU Wastewater
Reclamation Project
2003-2005 Capital Budget Request
More than 1.3 million gallons of water per day could be reclaimed and treated to protect a declining Palouse water table if a capital construction project
proposed by Washington
State
University and the
City of Pullman receives
legislative approval in the 2003 legislative session.
The proposal, funded for pre-design by the 2002
Legislature, was not included in Gov. Gary Locke’s proposed capital budget. State Rep. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, who
spearheaded efforts last year to secure pre-design funding through the
Centennial Clean Water Fund, is a leading advocate for this proposal in the
House.
The $10.7 million proposal would design and
construct the project during the 2003-2005 biennium.
The project is the third highest project proposed in the WSU Pullman capital
budget request for construction in the upcoming biennium (Behind Johnson Hall
and the Cleveland Education Additions.)
-
Problem:
Washington
State
University
consumes about 2.8 million gallons of water per day from an underground
water table that is declining by more than one foot per year.
The source also provides water for other
communities within Whitman County in Washington and Latah County in Idaho. It is the exclusive source of domestic, commercial
and industrial water and the declining table threatens to stifle
population growth and economic development in the region. The projected
water use growth over the next 10 years is approximately 1.7 million
gallons per year or about 60 percent.
-
Solution:
More than 2 million gallons of water per day of wastewater effluent will
be treated, filtered and recycled by the proposed plant. Treated
water (Washington Class A Standard) will be used
for irrigation of city and WSU agricultural lands, parks and recreation
areas, and will provide cooling water for the new WSU Energy Plant, a
construction project approved by the 2002 Legislature.
-
Long-term
savings to the State: If the
proposed water project is constructed, no major water facilities will need
to be built to support the university’s water needs – at least through the
next decade. If the new treatment plant is not built, new wells and water
storage tanks will need to be constructed within six years. The costs of
these projects will be in the millions of dollars and will put further
stress on the declining aquifer. New water rights and pumping permits
would need to be secured by 2007.
For more information,
contact Larry Ganders, WSU Assistant to the President, 360-956-2165; Pager:
360-786-3527; E-mail:
ganders@energy.wsu.edu;
