A Study of the Reuse of Reused Water

Abstract

ABSTRACTLubbock is located in the center of the semiarid High Plains of Texas. Due to a shortage of adequate water‐based recreational facilities in the region, the City Planning Department developed a scheme for converting an eight‐mile intracity canyon into a linear park containing a series of small recreational lakes. Funds amounting to over 11 million dollars were committed to the project by a local bond issue and various governmental organizations.The proposed lake makeup water is unique. Never before has a serious attempt been made to develop recreational lakes utilizing urban runoff and twice‐used reclaimed municipal waste water as the sole source of supply. The majority of the makeup water will be obtained from wells on a farm which has received the major portion of Lubbock's secondary treated sewage since 1938 and used it for irrigation purposes.In order to ascertain the suitability of utilizing this reclaimed sewage effluent for recreational purposes, the Texas Tech University Water Resources Center with the aid of an OWRT grant constructed a model system designed to simulate the lake project. Research performed to date includes algal growth potential studies, water quality analyses, bacteriological assays, viral assays, and fish life studies.