WICHITA FALLS, Texas — The city of Wichita Falls is entering its fourth year of "exceptional drought" this year and has plans to begin a groundbreaking program to turn sewer water into drinking water, according to an article by The Daily Mail.
While three years ago 88 percent of Texas was classified in "exceptional drought," Wichita Falls is just one percent of the state still in that category, the article noted.
The city's main water source, Lake Arrowhead, is at just 27 percent of its capacity, the release reported, even with city water restrictions that have brought usage down from 50 million to 12 million gallons per day.
As most residents already rely on bottled water in the face of the extreme restrictions, continued the article, the city is currently in a 45-day test period for blending 50 percent lake water with 50 percent wastewater to use for drinking water, the first city in the world to do so.
According to the article, water will be pumped directly from the wastewater treatment facility to the water treatment plant where it will undergo four stages of purification; purified water will be sent to the state environmental quality department for testing following the 45-day period.
Read the full article here.
