TMWA lets contract for Reno water purification

Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) chose Carollo Engineers to provide construction management services for the Advanced Purified Water Facility (APWF) at America Flat north of Reno, Nevada.

APWF is part of a comprehensive resource management approach by OneWater Nevada, a regional collaboration led by the City of Reno and TMWA. The $200 million APWF will be Nevada’s first water purification and reuse project.

APWF will provide a local, drought-resistant water source while reducing reclaimed water discharge into flood-prone Swan Lake by up to 2 million gallons per day and improving discharge water quality. The project aims to demonstrate the viability of Advanced Purified Water in non-coastal states, potentially enabling implementation at other Nevada water reclamation facilities.

The project will utilize an innovative ozone-biological-carbon based treatment system to produce purified water meeting state and federal drinking water standards. This proven technology offers advantages over conventional approaches, including lower capital and operating costs, reduced energy requirements, and elimination of brine-concentrate discharge associated with reverse osmosis systems.

High-quality effluent from the Reno-Stead Water Reclamation Facility will undergo advanced ozone oxidation and biological filtration at APWF followed by final polishing using granular activated carbon filtration and ultraviolet light treatment to produce Category A+ Advanced Purified Water (A+).

As defined by the Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) 445A, A+ water is suitable for all Nevada water recycling practices, including groundwater augmentation. This A+ water will be conveyed 7 miles to a rural site for agricultural irrigation as well as injected into the aquifer for storage and future withdrawal as needed.

The project involves comprehensive improvements at multiple locations, including upgrades to the Reno-Stead Water Reclamation Facility, construction of the new APWF, an export pump station, conveyance pipelines, finished water storage tanks, and injection, monitoring, and extraction wells. The project also includes a potable water pipeline for future connection to the TMWA water system.

Carollo will provide comprehensive construction management services including resident engineering, quality oversight, and contract administration across multiple project sites.

Construction is anticipated to break ground this summer and continue through November 2028.