Cool, clear potty water

[Bob Of Burleson]

In drought-stricken
Wichita Falls,
a new source of water

By Bill Hanna
billhanna@star-telegram.com

WICHITA FALLS — The water comes out of the tap clear.

There’s no odor, but it goes down with a slight chemical taste.

Or, as one Wichita Falls resident said: “It tastes kind of bleachy.”

But once Wichita Falls started doing a daily blend of lake water with 5 million gallons of treated wastewater, most folks in town seemed to accept it with a shrug.

When she took her first sip, Wichita Falls resident Katherine Smith didn’t seem to notice any difference.

“It tastes the same as Wichita Falls water always has,” Smith said. “It’s not really good tasting water … That’s why most people have always had bottled water in their homes.”

But to Smith and most Wichita Falls residents, the new source of water is desperately needed.

With Wichita Falls in the worst drought on record and its lakes hovering around 23 percent, any new source of water is welcome — even one that has been dubbed potty water by some.

“I’m actually feeling a little more optimistic than I did a a few months ago that we will find a way to make it through the drought,” Smith said. “I think everyone, whether they will drink the water or not, realizes how important this is.”

The treated wastewater is transported by a 12-mile pipeline to the Cypress Water Treatment Plant, where it then is treated again. It can account for anywhere from 33 percent to 50 percent of demand on a given day, said Daniel Nix, utility operations manager for the City of Wichita Falls.

Last week, Wichita Falls was using about 12 million gallons per day.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/07/11 ... rylink=cpy

[BillB]

Wichita Falls has more problems than water.
The only solution to living there is to move.