Water utilities are constantly planning for future growth and demands that will most
certainly tax their existing potable water systems. In this regard, it is not only important to plan
for future growth by acquiring additional water supplies, but to also take a hard look at the
location, redundancy, and diversification of said supplies. Managing a water utility is much like
managing a prudent mutual fund for investors. The goal should be to maintain consistent growth
with reasonable risk, all the while ensuring the success of the client. For water utilities, however,
the client is the city or political subdivision being served, and the "reasonable risk" means being
always able to maintain constant service. Indeed, notwithstanding political pressures from the
local community, many water utilities even have a statutory obligation to provide such guarantee
of continuous and adequate service. There are many reasons that utilities should consider diversifying their water supplies.
Droughts may reduce surface water and groundwater supplies. Environmental regulations may
unexpectedly impact water supplies. Hurricanes and other natural disasters may cause systems
to fail. And business decisions and/or legal positions may dictate moving away from one source
of supply in favor of another. The paper discusses further examples of these types of reasons, along with diversification options such as: surface water resources; groundwater resources; conservation; direct reuse of reclaimed water; indirect reuse of reclaimed water; aquifer storage and recovery (ASR); and, desalination. The Texas Regional Water Planning Process and collaboration of regional entities are discussed. Several brief examples of case studies are included on topics that include: minimizing drought impacts; addressing reservoir contamination; using ASR to alleviate peaking costs; and, maximizing reclaimed water supplies.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 290 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 7 |
| Published : | 06/01/2006 |
