Texas’ Drought Dilemma: Recycling Sewage into Tap Water

Texas has long been at the mercy of droughts, explosive population growth, and dwindling rivers. State planners warn that without new sources, supply may fall 18% short of demand by 2070. Under a “drought of record,” Texas could lack as much as 4.7 million acre-feet (MAF) per year by 2030 – roughly 20% of projected need – rising to 6.9 MAF by 2070 if no action is taken. Cities are already feeling the pinch: West Texas and Panhandle reservoirs sit near 25% capacity, and places like Corpus Christi and Brownsville have imposed restrictions on outdoor watering and construction to stretch supplies. Rapid urban growth – Texas’ municipal demand is expected to grow 63% by 2070 – only deepens the crisis. In short, climate change and soaring demand are straining Texas’ traditional water sources (groundwater and the Rio Grande), prompting engineers to turn to bold solutions. One solution is wastewater recycling, also known as potable reuse: treating sewage so thoroughly that it meets drinking-water standards.

El Paso’s Pure Water Center: A Direct Reuse Pioneer

El Paso, a desert city of 700,000 on the Texas-Mexico border, is pioneering one of the most ambitious wastewater-to-drinking projects in the world. In early 2025 El Paso Water – the city’s utility – broke ground on the Pure Water Center, a $290–$295 million facility that will treat up to 10 million gallons of sewage daily and pump it straight into the drinking supply. (For perspective, 10 MGD is about 9% of El Paso’s daily demand.) By 2028, the plant is scheduled to start sending purified effluent into the water system. This is historic: El Paso will be the first city in the nation with a large-scale direct-to-distribution potable reuse plant, meaning the treated wastewater flows directly to customers rather than being dumped in a reservoir or river first.

El Paso’s leadership says this step is crucial to “drought-proof” the city. The Rio Grande, long the main surface supply, now provides unpredictable amounts (just 14–38% of El Paso’s water in recent years). Groundwater from the Hueco Bolson aquifer is shared with Ciudad Juárez and is being depleted. Water managers point out that El Paso already taps nearly every available source – from Rio Grande water (when flows allow) to its inland Kay Bailey Hutchison desalination plant for brackish groundwater (online in 2017). After years of conservation and indirect recharge projects, the Pure Water Center will ensure a reliable local supply even if river flows vanish.

Advanced Purification Technology

The Pure Water Center uses a multi-stage treatment train to exceed drinking-water standards. An El Paso Matters report explains the process in four steps, echoed in Carollo Engineers’ press release:

1. Membrane Filtration – Raw effluent (treated wastewater from the Roberto Bustamante plant) first passes through fine filters to remove suspended solids and large particulates.

2. Reverse Osmosis (RO) – The filtered water is then pushed through RO membranes. This “heart and soul” of the process strips out virtually all remaining impurities, including salts, viruses, bacteria, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals. In effect, RO operates much like El Paso’s desalination plant, but instead of ocean water it purifies sewage-derived water.

3. Advanced Oxidation (UV + Hydrogen Peroxide) – The now-extremely-clean water is treated with ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide. This breaks down trace organic molecules that might have passed earlier stages.

4. Granular Activated Carbon & Chlorine – Finally, the water flows through activated carbon beds to adsorb any remaining organic compounds, and a small dose of chlorine is added for disinfection as in any normal water plant.

The result of this rigorous “multiple barrier” system is water so pure that experts say it is basically tasteless and odorless – often needing minerals added back for flavor. “The heart and soul of this new facility is the reverse osmosis membranes,” notes El Paso Water’s Gilbert Trejo. “They’re not only desalinating the water but removing everything else we don’t want: pathogens, viruses, emerging contaminants – everything a lot of customers are concerned about”.

Throughout these steps, real-time monitoring plays a key role. Hundreds of sensors will continually check the water quality at each stage. If any test flags a microbe or chemical spike, the system will automatically shut down and operators must investigate. State regulators (TCEQ) have required such tight safety protocols. In fact, El Paso Water has spent years running pilot tests (since 2016) and submitting data to TCEQ to prove the design works. With final design approval granted in late 2024, El Paso Water is confident the technology will meet or exceed all federal and state drinking-water rules.

Blending and Capacity

Unlike some systems that fully isolate wastewater, El Paso’s design includes a small blending step to stabilize the output. The Carollo report notes that up to 2 MGD of treated brackish groundwater from the desalination plant will be mixed with the recycled water before distribution. This blend helps balance the finished water’s mineral content and pH (preventing pipe corrosion) while still delivering an overwhelmingly sewage-free product. Even with blending, the Pure Water Center will still inject roughly 8–10 MGD of recycled water into the tap system. At that rate, it can supply about 9% of the city’s average daily demand with essentially drought-proof water.

Operating costs reflect this sophistication. El Paso Water estimates the Pure Water Center will cost about $500 per acre-foot of water produced. This is on par with the desalination plant but well above historical groundwater costs ($254/AF) or river water ($342/AF). Importing water from far away is even pricier (~$1,300/AF). So, although direct reuse has higher upfront costs and energy use, engineers argue it’s cost-effective relative to alternatives when considering El Paso’s future needs.

Regulatory Approval and Funding

Texas’ regulatory framework is evolving to catch up with this technology. In 2022 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) adopted a guidance manual for Direct Potable Reuse, and by late 2024 it had authorized El Paso’s design under state reclaimed-water rules. TCEQ has worked with El Paso Water for years, reviewing plans to ensure the project complies with the Safe Drinking Water Act’s spirit, even though national standards for direct reuse don’t yet exist. The final step will be rigorous testing and approval once construction finishes; only then will the plant be allowed to start sending water to customers.

On the financial side, El Paso Water has secured over $23 million in federal grants (including $20 million from the Bureau of Reclamation) and continues to seek more state and federal funds. Customers are also paying higher bills to cover the cost – water rates have steadily risen as the utility builds new sources. This reflects a broader trend: as Texas legislators wrestle with the looming water crisis, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 7 (2025) and a companion constitutional amendment to devote up to $1 billion/year to water projects (desalination, reservoirs, reuse). In the long term, dedicated funding and modern regulatory guidelines are expected to make projects like El Paso’s more feasible across the state.

Community Reactions: Support, Concerns, and Misconceptions

The idea of drinking treated sewage understandably provokes mixed reactions. Inside Texas, many homeowners and stakeholders have greeted El Paso’s project with a mix of support and healthy skepticism. Some environmental advocates and water experts praise the move as visionary and necessary, noting that the alternate is running out of water. Gilbert Trejo calls El Paso “the center of the universe in water recycling right now”, and UTEP researchers say the utility has been “very effective” at drought-proofing its supply. WateReuse Texas leaders view the plant as a model for other cities facing similar shortages.

However, concerns linger among residents about water safety and “toilet-to-tap” stigma. A persistent worry is the presence of so-called “contaminants of emerging concern” – chemicals like pharmaceuticals, hormones, or PFAS (the “forever chemicals”) that may survive treatment. Groups like Food & Water Watch have warned it’s “impossible to monitor every potential toxin” in recycled water. Some residents recall past controversies, such as a Tampa, Florida reuse proposal that was defeated by fears over cost and toxic residues. A local Sierra Club leader in Tampa flatly said, “We have never thought it was necessary to drink wastewater”.

Direct potable reuse systems nationwide often battle what researchers call the “yuck factor.” People instinctively cringe at the idea of drinking what was once in someone’s toilet. Public acceptance usually requires extensive education. As Noelle George of WateReuse Texas puts it, “You have to have a lot of education in a community to say why [recycled water] is needed and what experts are doing to ensure the safety of the water”. El Paso Water is taking steps to inform the public: the plant will include a visitors center and outreach materials, and utility officials have been frank about the multi-barrier treatment that will make the water ultra-pure. (Indeed, one study found that properly treated reclaimed water is often cleaner than conventionally sourced water.)

Public dialogue in El Paso appears more positive than in some other places, likely because the need is so clear. The city gets less than 9 inches of rain annually and just endured its hottest years on record, and residents know the Rio Grande’s flows have become erratic. Many locals recognize that without new sources, tougher restrictions or even water shortages could be the alternative. In surveys elsewhere, factors that improve acceptance include understanding that direct reuse produces a reliable drought-proof supply and that every drop is first treated far beyond normal standards. El Paso Water emphasizes that its system meets all state/federal criteria and is overseen by regulators at every step.

Texas and the Water-Reuse Frontier

El Paso is not alone in eyeing direct potable reuse, though it is first to construction. Elsewhere in Texas, several communities and water districts are studying or piloting reuse options. For example, the Colorado River Municipal Water District in Big Spring (Permian Basin) has been blending treated sewage with raw water since 2013. During the 2010s, Big Spring and Wichita Falls even ran temporary direct reuse setups during drought (though the water was later combined with other sources). In fact, Big Spring holds the title of first U.S. direct-reuse project, albeit it mixes reclaimed water with surface sources before distribution.

Looking beyond Texas, southwestern states are moving quickly. California adopted comprehensive direct-reuse regulations in 2024, and Colorado in 2023. Arizona is also updating its rules. Cities like Phoenix and Tucson have announced plans for similar direct reuse plants. Even Namibia—a desert country—has been recycling treated sewage into drinking water since the 1970s with high success. U.S. experts say we’re on the brink of a reuse revolution: any dry, fast-growing region with water scarcity is likely to consider this option. As UC-Berkeley engineer David Sedlak observes, technology is ready; “it’s really a question of whether the community accepts it”. El Paso’s experience will be watched nationwide to see if it eases fears and proves the process can run smoothly.

Beyond Drought: Climate Change and Urban Expansion

The push for reuse is driven by more than just local droughts. Texas’ expanding cities and industries put constant upward pressure on water needs. Data centers, booming suburbs, and industrial growth all mean Texans are demanding more water than ever. Meanwhile, climate models suggest hotter summers and longer dry spells in the Southwest. Texas’ 2022 water plan forecasts that overall supply will drop by about 18% by 2070 if nothing changes. That reduction comes largely from dwindling aquifers (groundwater availability may fall 25% by 2070) and over-allocated rivers. Coastal cities also face salinity intrusion and storm threats. In this environment, resource managers view wastewater as a renewable resource rather than waste – every gallon flushed represents energy and water that can be reclaimed.

Recycling municipal wastewater even has environmental upsides. It relieves pressure on rivers and aquifers and reduces the need to pump or truck in water from distant sources. It can shrink a city’s footprint in sensitive areas (e.g. less groundwater withdrawal from the Ogallala). Studies show that reuse, when combined with conservation, makes water supplies far more resilient to climate extremes. That long-term security is what motivates both policy-makers and engineers. As climate change intensifies and Texas continues to urbanize, the consensus among experts is that innovation – including potable reuse – will be key to preventing shortages.

How Purification Safeguards Tap Water

For Texas homeowners, the big question is: Will it be safe to drink? The answer from experts is a resounding yes, backed by multiple layers of protection. First, before the Pure Water Center even connects to the system, El Paso Water will treat the recycled water to standards set by the Safe Drinking Water Act. In fact, after all treatment steps, lab tests during the design phase showed the water met or exceeded those standards.

Once operational, the facility’s instruments will continuously verify water quality. As noted, if sensors detect any problem – say a pathogen or chemical spike – the entire process shuts down immediately and no water is released until fixed. The state agency (TCEQ) and the U.S. EPA also have oversight: they require monthly reporting, source water monitoring, and public notifications for any health-related issue. In short, the plant will be more monitored than a typical city water plant.

Homeowners should also be aware of specific guidelines. El Paso Water is urging residents not to flush pharmaceuticals, hazardous chemicals, or fats down drains. This is partly precautionary – while the plant is designed to eliminate essentially all drug residues, keeping unnecessary pollutants out of the sewer helps treatment work most efficiently. It’s no different than the usual advice from water utilities to avoid dumping paint, solvents, or grease into toilets and sinks.

Residents worried about forever chemicals (PFAS) can take some reassurance from ongoing efforts. EPA’s first national PFAS limits (set in 2024) require extremely low levels in drinking water. El Paso Water already checks for PFAS under the EPA’s UCMR5 monitoring program and is prepared to upgrade treatment if needed. So far, preliminary sampling has found only trace amounts below concern levels. The advanced purification steps (especially RO and activated carbon) are very effective at removing PFAS and many pharmaceuticals. In fact, El Paso officials note that some of the best PFAS removal technologies (like granular activated carbon) are already part of their system.

In everyday terms, once approved, the recycled water will simply come out of the tap alongside regular water. Texans who already drink from tap should notice no change in appearance or odor. If anything, experts say the new water might be very pure – so much so that some minerals (normally in groundwater) are added back to meet taste standards. There will be no “recycled water” label on your bottle or faucet: it’s just potable drinking water certified safe by the state.

Finally, homeowners can stay informed through several channels. El Paso Water plans to publish detailed water quality reports that include the new source. Public meetings and city communications will cover the project’s status. Consumers can also review TCEQ’s permits and the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act data online. By law, any significant change in water supply must be disclosed. Given the high profile of this project, local news outlets and water authority updates will likely report regularly on its progress and safety checks.

Key Takeaways for Homeowners

• Tap water safety: The recycled water undergoes rigorous treatment (filtration, RO, UV, carbon) and real-time monitoring. It will meet all federal and state drinking-water rules, just like El Paso’s existing sources.

• Taste and use: The finished water will be clear and odorless. No special precautions (like boiling) are needed. Appliances and plants will use it just as they do current tap water.

• Cost impact: Financing this project may slightly raise utility bills. But it avoids extreme measures (like water rationing or expensive imports) that could have much higher costs in the long run.

• Stay engaged: Attend town halls, read water authority reports, and visit the plant’s upcoming visitor center to learn more. Understanding the technology can ease concerns.

• Do your part: Continue water conservation at home (fix leaks, efficient fixtures) and follow disposal guidelines. Small actions (like disposing of medications at the pharmacy instead of the toilet) help protect water quality overall.

The Road Ahead

El Paso’s bold venture is a case study for Texas and beyond. It showcases how innovation can turn a problem (wastewater disposal) into a solution (new drinking water). While not a panacea, direct potable reuse is emerging as a valuable tool in the mix of strategies needed to sustain fast-growing, drought-prone regions. If successful, El Paso’s Pure Water Center could light the way for other cities – signaling that reclaimed water is no longer a “yucky” last resort but a high-quality part of the water portfolio.

For Texas homeowners and officials alike, the message is clear: Every drop counts. In a hotter, more crowded future, treating and reusing water is not just smart – it’s essential. By understanding the process, asking questions, and staying informed, local communities can embrace this change confidently, knowing that modern science and regulation are working to keep the water clean and safe.