BIOBROx bill passes US House committee

The United States House of Representative’s Committee on Natural Resources approved on 11 September 2009 Magna Water District Water Reuse & Groundwater Recharge Act of 2009 (HR 2265) proposed by Representative Jason Chaffetz.

The committee’s approval of the proposed project was unanimous, and it reported the bill favorably to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

As reported in D&WR in May, Magna Water District constructed an electrodialysis reversal (EDR) drinking water treatment plant to remove harmful arsenic and perchlorate from Barton Well Field. To address the water shortage issues facing the citizens of northwest Salt Lake County, the district developed a state-of-the-art reuse and recharge facility, said to be the first of its type in the world.

Known as BIOBROx, it treats the waste stream from the EDR plant to produce high-quality effluent that can be used for outdoor irrigation. In doing so, the Magna Water District will be saving over 580 million gallons (2.2 million m³)/year of drinkable water that was formerly being used for irrigation purposes.