History of reuse water in Aurora
Aurora Water is the state leader in reuse. Since 1968, Aurora has used reclaimed water to irrigate golf courses, parks and landscaping at city buildings. Aurora operates the five million gallon per day (mgd) Sand Creek Water Reclamation Facility. Irrigation at numerous locations throughout Aurora and oil and gas operations utilize reclaimed water. Aurora also has reclamation hydrants to supply city water trucks with additional water for median and greenbelt watering and sewer cleaning. (purple pipe and hydrants pic) The National Association of Clean Water Agencies has given Aurora Water's Sand Creek Water Reclamation Facility the Platinum Recognition in its Peak Performance Awards. The honor recognizes Aurora's water reclamation facility for 10 years of consecutive 100% National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit compliance.
Prairie Waters
Since 2010, Aurora Water has used indirect potable reuse (IPR) through Prairie Waters. The system is an innovative potable reuse system that provides a sustainable water supply by recapturing water as a cornerstone of a water supply plan that will help meet much of Aurora's needs for decades. Prairie Waters uses both natural cleansing processes, such as riverbank filtration, and state-of-the-art purification technology to deliver up to 10 mgd. For more than a century, riverbank filtration has been used in Europe and has proven to be especially effective in removing pharmaceuticals. As some other water utilities struggle to find ways to remove these new contaminants from their supply, Aurora Water is ahead of the curve with some of the most advanced purification technology in the country. Once treated and blended, the drinking water is indistinguishable from our mountain sources. Additionally, Binney Water Purification Facility's drinking water has never experienced any water quality complaints or violated any regulatory requirements.
Future of potable reuse
Aurora Water continues to look for forward-thinking ways to increase our water supply.
Aurora Water's Integrated Water Master Plan (IWMP) identified exploring our reuse capacities
– along with ongoing
water conservation and additional water storage with our proposed
Wild Horse Reservoir – to meet continuing growth and climate change challenges. Potable reuse water is a sustainable source that is locally controlled and expanding it is a wise way to manage our water resources. Potable reuse provides an efficient, cost effective and environmentally responsible means to ensure the continued ability to reuse our water sources to extinction to meet water demands today and tomorrow.