United States
          Environmental Protection
          Agency
EPA820-F-15-002
        July 2015
Promoting  Innovation for  a Sustainable Water  Future
                                        A  Progress  Report
                      Message from Ken Kopocis, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water, U.S. EPA
     "I am delighted to share this progress report on the ways that communities and the water sector have used innovation and
     technology to accelerate progress to clean and sustainable water resources. The water sector has embraced the need to think
   differently about sustainability and the concept of'One Water.' We are far from done, but the evidence of change and progress is
            unmistakable, and EPA will continue to support efforts that are taking our nation on this important path."


 In April 2014, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy issued the Promoting Technology Innovation for Clean and Safe Water, Water Technology
 Innovation Blueprint—Version 2  (Blueprint Version 2) to demonstrate the extent of risks to water sustainability, the "market opportunities"
 for innovation, examples of innovation pioneers, and actions to promote technology innovation. These actions included ways that EPA will be
 a positive contributor to the effort, along with utilities, industry, investors, academics, technology developers, and entrepreneurs.
 Over the past year, EPA has collaborated with a wide spectrum of partners, all of whom play a critical role in advancing water technology and
 innovation. Progress toward sustainable water resources is accelerating. This Progress Report provides additional examples of the growing
 momentum across the country to address traditional and emerging threats to the nation's water resources.


 The Business Case for Water Innovation and Sustainability
 Blueprint Version 2 made the business case for innovation in the water sector and provided many examples of how innovation was being
 deployed across the United States. In the past year, notable authors and experts issued reports that also framed our nation's water challenges
 and made the strong case for water technology, innovation, and sustainability. Examples of these critically important works include:
     "With shocking water crises in the news this year, the urgent need for infrastructure
     upgrades and resilience building in our water systems has been made clear." (From:
     Innovating for a Sustainable and Resilient Water Future, Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum,
     2014)
     "[...] the water sector is rapidly shifting from a culture of stasis to one that values
     and embraces innovation." (From: Navigating to New Shores: Seizing the Future for
     Sustainable and Resilient U.S. Freshwater Resources, The Johnson Foundation, 2014)
     "Although they have been highly effective to date, the country's water supply systems are
     now on the cusp of new challenges that they are not prepared to meet."
     (From: The Path to Water Innovation, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment,
     2014)
     "The time has come to secure the water future we want before a crisis forces it upon us."
     (From: Water 4.0: The Past, Present, and Future of the World's Most Vital Resource, David
     Sedlak,2014)

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 Recent  Innovations  in  the Water  Sector
 EPA's Blueprint Version 2 identified and described 10 of the most promising opportunities to employ technology and institutional innovation to
 help solve current water resource issues and promote economic growth. Collectively, these "top ten" market opportunities, listed in the key at right,
 form the basis for achieving water sustainability. Building off the 20 examples provided in Blueprint Version 2, the map below highlights additional
 innovative technology efforts across the nation and identifies their corresponding market opportunities.
            Gresham, OR Achieves
               jp  Energy Net Zero
       Through the use of biogas generation and
  recovery, as well as ground-mounted solar arrays,
  the City of Gresham's wastewater treatment plant
  is the first in the Pacific Northwest to generate the
same amount of electricity as it consumes each year.
                  •fir  Protecting LakeTahoe
           The Lake Clarity Crediting Program uses a suite of
      stormwater tools and protocols to target ongoing effective
         actions to reduce urban stormwater fine sediment and
                         nutrient pollutants to LakeTahoe.
                                                                         Madison, Wl Harvests Phosphorus
                                                   The Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, in conjunction with Ostara Nutrient
                                                Recovery Technologies, recovers phosphorus at their Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment
                                                         Plant, converting it into an environmentally friendly fertilizer, Crystal Green®.
                                                                            v Mobile App for Water Quality Data
                                                                     A mobile application called KCWaterBug provides live water quality
                                                                  data so users can make real-time informed decisions about recreation in
                                                                                         numerous streams in the Kansas City area.
                      *   GreenPlan Bay Area
  The GreenPlan Bay Area project developed a GIS-based tool and
GreenPlans to help municipalities identify the optimal combination
    and location of green infrastructure/low impact development
         features to address water quality on a watershed scale.
   U. Cleaning Hydraulic Fracturing Wastewater
         Researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder have developed a
       method using microbes to clean both organic contaminants and salts
    from hydraulic fracturing wastewater, while producing renewable energy.
    Padre Dam Municipal Water
              Q i  1 District, CA
      The recently completed construction of an
advanced water purification facility will reclaim
treated wastewater and use it to recharge drinking
  water aquifers, providing 20-25 percent of Padre
        Dam's current drinking water demands.
          sac-
                                                                                                         f Potable Reuse
                                                                                        The communities of Big Spring and Wichita Falls,
                                                                                       Texas, became the country's first two potable reuse
                                                                                         facilities, using multiple barrier technologies and
                                                                                                               intense monitoring.
                    Resource Conservation and Pollution Reduction at
                                    f  ^ Wastewater Treatment Facilities
                 As part of a broader Energy Management Initiative (EMI), EPA Region 4 supported energy
assessment site visits at eight wastewater treatment facilities. The site visits identified opportunities for significant
  energy savings, and reductions in C02equivalent, and nitrogen discharges, at very little to no cost to the utilities.
                                                                                                                                            -v
                                                                                                                                                        Conserving and Recovering Energy

                                                                                                                                                        Recovering Nutrients

                                                                                                                                                        Improving and Greening of Water
                                                                                                                                                        Infrastructure
                                                                                                                                                        Conserving and Reusing Water
                                                                                                                                                                                                       Market Opportunities in the Water Sector

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Reducing Costs and Improving Techniques
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 for Water Monitoring
                                                                                                                                                                                                            _  Improving Performance of Small Drinking
                                                                                                                                                                                                            ®  Water Systems
                                                                                                                                                                                                            /-Tz Reducing Water Impacts from Energy
                                                                                                                                                                                                            MM  Production
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Improving Resiliency of Water Infrastructure
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          to the Impacts of Climate Change
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Improving Access to Safe Drinking Water and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Sanitation
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Improving Water Quality of Our Oceans,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Estuaries, and Watersheds
                                                                                                                                Rocky River Hydrology -4F
                                                                                                                                Cleveland Metroparks studied the hydrology of the
                                                                                                                                Rocky River headwater streams affected by runoff
                                                                                                                                by using real-time flow and water quality sen-
                                                                                                                                sors to attain precise, short-interval hydrograph
                                                                                                                                and water quality data.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Improving Onsite Systems
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 (MASSTC) aids in the development, testing, and piloting of new and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 innovative onsite technologies.
                                                                                                                                                                                              * .
                                                                                                                                                                                              «
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Private Wastewater Treatment for Nutrients
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         A partnership between the Buzzards Bay Coalition and the Kingman Yacht Center marina
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         is working to provide currently unsewered households with access to a new, privately built
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         wastewater treatment plant as a means to control the discharge of nutrients.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Philadelphia, PA Extracts Heat from Wastewater 7
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The city of Philadelphia uses a geothermal process, acting like a large heat pump,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              to extract ambient heat from wastewater to heat its compressor building and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              gallery space, saving $18,000 a year in energy costs.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         DC Water Saves Energy >m
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         DC Water is the first plant in North America to adopt a Cambi thermal hydrolysis process
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         that will enable them to create a significant amount of biogas which, when fully operating,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         will generate one-third of the plant's energy requirement.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Rainwater Harvesting at EPA {A
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      EPA's Headquarters facility recently upgraded an existing 6,000-gallon capacity rainwater
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      harvesting system with OptiNimbus real-time controls to manage stormwater retention and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      use more effectively. The system allows EPA to monitor the volume of rainwater captured
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      and used over time.

                                                                                                                                                               Emory University Reclaims
                                                                                                                                                               Wastewater
                                                                                                                                                                              The WaterHub at Emory University is reducing its
                                                                                                                                                                              water footprint nearly 40% by reclaiming and reusing
                                                                                                                                                                              up to 146 million gallons of campus wastewater
                                                                                                                                                                              annually by using an adaptive ecological technology
                                                                                                                                                                              that naturally breaks down organic matter in
                                                                                                                                                                              wastewater for use as make-up water in its steam and
                                                                                                                                                                              chiller plants.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Crisfield, MD Uses Wind Power
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The city of Crisfield is planning a 750 megawatt (MW) wind turbine to provide elec-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             tricity at its wastewater treatment plant. The turbine is expected to generate more
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             than enough electricity to power the treatment plant and save the city $150,000 to
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             $200,000 a year in electricity costs.


                            EPA Tools and Guidance That Support Innovation and Sustainability
                            Water Utility Response On-The-Go—A mobile website and innovative tool that consolidates, and makes accessible from the field, information
                            and tools that water utility operators and their response partners may need during an emergency.
                            Flood Resilience: A Basic Guide for Water and Wastewater Utilities—A handbook that outlines a simple, four-step assessment process to help
                            any water utility understand its flooding threat and identify practical mitigation options to protect its critical assets.
                            National Stormwater Calculator—An application that estimates annual  rainwater and frequency of runoff for a specific site anywhere in the
                            United States. It now includes estimated costs of green and gray infrastructure stormwater BMPs and a mobile website for use on tablets.
                                                                                                                                                                              EPA Promotion of Sustainable Utilities Based on Proven and Progressive Practices
                                                                                                                                                                              Moving Toward Sustainabilitv: Sustainable and Effective Practices for Creating Your Water Utility Roadmap—Provides a series of proven
                                                                                                                                                                              best practices to optimize utility operations.
                                                                                                                                                                              Making the Right Choices for Your Utility: Using Sustainability Criteria in Water Infrastructure Decision Making—Outlines a six-step process
                                                                                                                                                                              to analyze alternatives for infrastructure investments.
                                                                                                                                                                              Rural and Small Systems Guidebook to Sustainable Utility Management—Introduces rural and smaller utilities to key areas for effective utility
                                                                                                                                                                              management. Developed jointly with USDA.

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                            "We are making real strides, at EPA and across the entire water sector, to support the
                            use of innovation and technology to achieve a sustainable water future."
                            —EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
                     EPA Actions to Support Technology Innovation and Water Sustainability
Blueprint Version 2 provided the framework for EPA and its partners in the water sector to support water sustainability. Examples of progress include:
 Advocating Technology Innovation
 Technology Innovation Showcase—In December 2014, EPA held the Technology
 Innovation Showcase, which demonstrated innovative water technologies, including
 over 20 technologies designed by EPA researchers.
 2015 Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP) Policy—EPA recently updated
 its SEP Policy to include opportunities for defendants to develop and demonstrate
 innovative technologies that may prove more protective of human health and the
 environment than existing processes.
 Speeding Delivery of Proven Technologies
 National Centers for Innovation in Small Drinking Water Systems—With fund-
 ing support from EPA, the University of Colorado and University of Massachusetts
 are developing programs to identify and address common potential barriers in how
 states approve the use of new treatment technologies.
 Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology (LIFT) Program—Through funding
 provided  by a cooperative agreement with EPA, the Water Environment Federation
 (WEE) and the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) LIFT program, now
 with over 280 water agency participants, launched several new programs, including
 a Web platform to help identify and deliver information on innovative water
 technologies. WEF is also developing a framework for a work group on national
 storm water testing and evaluation for products and practices (STEPP).
Creating Regulatory Space
Integrated Planning—EPA is providing $335,000 in technical assistance to five
communities to develop components of integrated plans for meeting Clean Water Act
(CWA) requirements for municipal wastewater and stormwater management.
NPDES Compendium of Next Generation Compliance Examples—EPA has pro-
vided examples of how advances in pollutant monitoring and information technology
have been used to increase compliance with environmental requirements under the
NPDES prog ram.
Facilitating Opportunities for Financing and
Funding
New Water Infrastructure Financing—On January 16,2015, the Obama adminis-
tration announced efforts to accelerate economic growth and additional investment
in the nation's infrastructure, including water and wastewater.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program—Since its inception, EPA's
SBIR Program has provided incentive funding to small businesses to translate their
innovative ideas into commercial products that address environmental problems.
Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center (WIRFC)—Launched in
January 2015, EPA's WIRFC will promote the use of innovative financing, including
public-private partnerships, to serve as a resource for communities, municipal
utilities, and private entities as they seek to address their future water infrastructure
needs.
 Partnering and Leveraging Actions with Others
 Collaborating for Energy Efficiency—EPA Region 9, in partnership with the
 Department of Energy's Industrial Assessment Centers, conducted 19 energy audits
 at wastewater treatment facilities. These audits identified 125 energy conservation
 opportunities that could save approximately $7 million and 70 million kWh annually.
 Technology Innovation at WEFTEC 2014—WEF showcased Blueprint Version 2 and
 led facilitated discussion sessions on each of the market opportunities at its 2014
 WEF Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC). WEF is publishing summaries
 of each of those discussions monthly in its Water Environment &Technology(WE&T)
 magazine throughout 2015 in a featured series titled "Building Blueprints."
Supporting Research, Development, and
Demonstration
Nutrient Sensor Challenge—In partnership with EPA, the Alliance for Coastal Tech-
nologies' Nutrient Sensor Challenge will accelerate the development and deployment
of affordable nutrient sensors for use in water.
Environmental Technology Innovation Clusters—EPA has supported the creation
of 14 clusters across the country to lead the nation in water technology innovations
through regional collaboration among businesses, government, research institutions,
and other interested groups.
                          Moving Forward—Continuing to Advocate and Embrace Change
This progress report identifies just a few of the many examples of how innovative water technologies and practices are being pursued to support a
sustainable water future. For more information about innovative technologies and practices related to water sustainability, please visit the EPA Water
Technology Webpage at www.epa.gov/innovation/watertech.

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