Boise To Test Wastewater Recycling Tech

As part of Boise’s Water Renewal Utility Plan, the city will conduct a pilot program to evaluate five potential methods for treating and recycling wastewater, reports Erin Banks Rusby for the Idaho Press.

“The water being processed through the pilot program will not contain any human excrement, urine, viruses, or other waste disposed of through household toilets, sinks, or showers, [Haley Falconer, senior manager of the city’s environmental division] said.” According to Falconer, “The city is planning to build a water renewal facility in that part of the city that will treat industrial wastewater and ‘grow with other industrial or commercial sources in that part of town.’”

The article outlines the five technologies that will be tested during the pilot program, including an air scrubber, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet advanced oxidation. “Testing all of these complex systems gives city personnel a chance to learn how each work, what is most effective, and to develop design criteria for how the technology would be used at a large scale in the future facility, Falconer said.”

According to Natalie Monro, spokesperson for the city’s public works department, “Currently, the city is hoping to clean the water to a drinkable level, but it is not considering an option to reuse the water as a source of drinking water.”