The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has conditionally approved full-scale operation of Wichita Falls’ temporary direct potable reuse project (DPR). The approval is for up to six months.
The project will turn wastewater into drinking water and is designed to provide relief for the city of Wichita Falls as it deals with a historic drought that has left lake levels at under 24% capacity and resulted in unprecedented, high level restrictions.
The city in March this year first submitted its proposed project to the commission, but was told further verification testing would be required in early May. From the findings of those tests the commission has determined that the water produced by the DPR project meets all state and federal standards.
Conditional approval is dependent on Wichita Falls complying with requirements relating to design, operations, monitoring reporting and automatic alarms and shutdowns at the treatment plant that were outlined in the approval letter.