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Attachment 1 2 <br /> ORANGE WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY <br /> RECLAIMED WATER SYSTEM <br /> June 2018 <br /> PURPOSE: To provide information about OWASA's reclaimed water(RCW) system. <br /> BACKGROUND: OWASA and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) partnered to <br /> develop the RCW system to provide UNC with a capability to use RCW instead of drinking water to meet <br /> certain non-potable water demands (chilled water, irrigation of landscaping and athletic fields, toilet <br /> flushing in new facilities, etc.) on the campus. RCW is the clean water produced as a by-product of the <br /> advanced treatment of wastewater at OWASA's Mason Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). <br /> UNC paid the entire cost to build the RCW system, excluding the $1.6 million in grant funds OWASA <br /> received from the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund to pay for engineering design and <br /> permitting costs, and $625,500 OWASA received from EPA which helped pay for construction of the <br /> system. The system cost about $14 million to design and build. Upon completion, the RCW capital <br /> improvements were dedicated to OWASA for operation and maintenance. <br /> OWASA'S OPERATION: The RCW water system began operation in April 2009. Calendar Year 2017 <br /> RCW sales averaged 0.72 million gallons a day(MGD),about 10.6%of the community's water needs. The <br /> system includes a 600,000 gallon concrete storage tank and a pumping station located at the WWTP. The <br /> RCW system also includes a chemical feed system that allows OWASA to further treat and disinfect the <br /> already highly treated reclaimed water. The RCW distribution system is comprised of about five miles of <br /> RCW mains ranging in size from 6 to 24 inches in diameter. <br /> The RCW system is currently configured to meet a total peak day demand of 3 MGD(average daily demand <br /> of 1.2 MGD); however, the system is designed and constructed to allow cost-effective expansion to 5.2 <br /> MGD by adding only an additional transfer pump and additional chemical feed system capacity. The RCW <br /> average daily demand forecast for Fiscal Year 2018 is 0.68 MGD. Demands are expected to increase to <br /> about 0.93 MGD by 2030. The system's current configuration is expected to meet projected RCW demands <br /> for the foreseeable future. <br /> The cost to operate and maintain the system is paid solely by OWASA's RCW customers which currently <br /> includes only UNC (including UNC Healthcare) and the Saint Thomas More School. <br /> PRIMARY BENEFITS OF THE RCW SYSTEM: <br /> • Enables OWASA to meet non-potable water needs in a cost-effective manner while freeing up the <br /> community's drinking water supply and treatment capacities to meet essential needs; <br /> • Lowers the risk(for all customers)during future droughts; <br /> • Defers the need for costly additional water supply and/or treatment facilities; and <br /> • Reduces the amount of energy OWASA uses to meet UNC's non-drinking water needs. <br /> FUTURE EXPANSION OF THE SYSTEM: OWASA's 2010 Long-Range Water Supply Plan <br /> concludes that investing OWASA funds in an expansion of the RCW system to promote further <br /> conservation of OWASA's drinking water supply sources is less cost-effective than other water supply <br /> management options identified in the plan. Instead, the plan concludes that OWASA remain <br /> "opportunistic"on a case-by-case basis with respect to customers seeking to extend or connect to the RCW <br /> system. <br /> FOR MORE INFORMATION: <br /> Monica Dodson,Wastewater Treatment and Biosolids Recycling Manager <br /> mdodson(cr�,owasa.org or 919-537-4205 <br />