Harris County Onsite Wastewater Reuse Program John Blount, P.E. Director of Planning & Operations.

Facts  Harris County currently has 10,347 wastewater reuse systems installed and operating in Unincorporated Harris County.  Approximately 2.5 million gallons per day or 912 million gallons a year are reused for landscape irrigation.  The first reuse system was installed in Harris County in1989.

Facts Cont.  Ninety-eight percent of all new onsite sewage systems utilize wastewater reuse.  Harris County is the nation wide leader in onsite wastewater reuse technology.  Harris County was the first to have an electronic monitoring and maintenance protocol.

Facts Cont.  Harris County was the first to require standardized testing of disinfection equipment.  Harris County was the first to require night discharges of surface spray.  Systems serve single homes, fast food restaurants, and many other establishments.

Old Town Spring Project  Put into service in 1996  Serves up to 1,000 people a day

Purpose The purpose of this project was to provide public restrooms to visitors so that they would not use the inadequate septic systems at the local shops.

Design Concept Build a public restroom that recycles the wastewater for toilet flushing, then disposes of treated wastewater by irrigating grass using subsurface drip irrigation technology. The only fresh water introduced to the system is through hand washing.

System Flow Process Waste from Bathroom 1000 Gallon Primary Settling Tank 1500 Gallon Aerobic Treatment Tank Tablet Chlorinator for Disinfection

System Flow Process Cont Gallon Pump/Recycle Tank Treated wastewater fills up pressurized storage tank, ready for toilet flushing, excess wastewater is then dispersed to drip fields Wastewater to multiple drip fields is alternated by a K-rain valve

Other Unique Features  Waterless urinals (still in use)  ½ gallon air assist flush toilets (replaced with 1 ½ gallon low flow conventional toilets due to reliability)  Sand filter (replaced by screen filter after internal corrosion caused passing of sand)  Self closing low flow lavatory faucets (replaced with conventional faucets due to not enough fresh water entering system)

Pre-Treatment Tank

Aerobic Plant

Disinfection Device

Pump Chamber

Filter/Pressure Tank

K-Rain Valve

Drip Field

Waterless Urinals

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