Some people call it reclaimed water, others call it wastewater, while still others call it just plain treated sewage. Whatever we call it, everyone creates wastewater but few think about it until they are asked to pay more to treat it.
The Wasatch Front’s fast-growing population, changing conditions and new technology are spurring the Utah Division of Water Quality to look at increasing water quality standards, and this means that most of Utah’s publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) will need to invest large sums in upgrading their plants and increase rates to pay for it.
Increased wastewater treatment levels are being sought to improve water quality, but no one really knows to what extent it will improve and what difference it will make to ecosystems. Increasing the level that wastewater is treated may also increase our water supply, but then we need to decide what amount of reclaimed water needs to be returned to the environment to maintain river flows and lake levels.
Stricter regulations may be needed and are well-intentioned, of course, but we must also consider whether the benefits of treating our wastewater to a higher level are worth the added costs. That’s why having a solid scientific understanding of the situation is so important.
Water quantity and quality issues are complicated and require good science to make sound public policy decisions. In addition to treated wastewater released into our rivers and lakes, these ecosystems and related water quality are affected by runoff from snowpack, rainfall, urban storm drains and agricultural activities. Good science can help determine the correct level of wastewater treatment required to achieve the desired water quality condition.
In urban areas, where water systems have been impacted by legacy pollutants and human activity, we lack the scientific data we need to determine if the ecosystem can be restored to a better condition or if the current condition is as good as it can get. We also need better information to know how much reclaimed water should remain in the environment. Urban ecosystems like Utah Lake, Jordan River and Great Salt Lake benefit at some level by having reclaimed water returned to them.
Fortunately, better scientific analyses are underway or starting soon. For example, the Utah Water Quality Board allocated $1 million for research to determine a path forward for the Utah Lake ecosystem. In their just-completed session, the good folks in the Legislature added $500,000 for that research effort. In addition, members of the Wasatch Front Water Quality Council, an organization of area POTWs, have contributed between $500,000 and $1 million annually to conduct research on Utah Lake, Jordan River and Great Salt Lake’s Farmington Bay.
My fellow Wasatch Front Water Quality Council members and I, however, believe that much more money is needed to provide the level of detail needed before changes are made to state water quality standards and before POTWs commit to make more expensive changes to wastewater facilities to meet them. Simply put, we don’t yet know enough to understand if and how the complex ecosystems of these water bodies may be improved by the effects of stricter regulations.
While research is not yet complete, the Utah Water Quality Board nonetheless recently approved rules that will lead to increases in sewer rates of $1 to $5 per month for most families. But that may just be the tip of the iceberg. If water quality standards are increased more, for some, rates could soar from $10 to $50 more per month. Some small, rural communities could see rates rise above customers’ ability to afford them.
No one wants to pay more for what appears to be the same service – flushing the toilet or draining the bathtub results in wastewater leaving your house, being treated by a POTW and then returned to the environment regardless of how much you pay for it. Treating wastewater to a stricter standard to achieve higher-quality discharges, though, will increase treatment costs dramatically. If we are going to spend this much money – possibly billions of dollars – we need a high degree of certainty that it will accomplish the goals desired.
Of the ongoing funds allocated by the legislature for water projects, less than 20 percent is allocated to water reclamation and none is allocated directly for research. Research needs to be prioritized and funding increased. If we don’t, the very expensive alternative is to spend billions and hope it serves a good purpose. But, heck, what’s an extra $50 per month on your utility bill?
Leland Myers is the executive eirector of the Wasatch Front Water Quality Council, an organization formed by publicly owned treatment works along the Wasatch Front.