How Texas Communities Are Solving Water Shortages with Direct Potable Reuse

Texas communities are solving water shortages with direct potable reuse by treating their own wastewater effluent to drinking water standards and putting it back into supply, either into raw water ahead of a treatment plant or straight into the distribution system. Big Spring started in 2013. Wichita Falls ran an emergency plant for a year. El Paso is building the next step. TCEQ approves each project case by case, on pilot data.

What is direct potable reuse?

It is treated municipal wastewater sent directly into a public water system, or into a raw water supply immediately before a drinking water treatment plant.

That is the definition in Texas Health and Safety Code §341.0391, quoted in TCEQ's guidance manual, Direct Potable Reuse for Public Water Systems (RG-634), published in November 2022 under Senate Bill 905.

Indirect potable reuse sends effluent back to an environmental buffer, such as a lake or aquifer, and withdraws it later. The TWDB water reuse fact sheet notes that an indirect project using a watercourse needs a bed and banks permit. Non-potable reuse, such as irrigation, is a separate authorization under 30 TAC Chapter 210, covered in our post on Chapter 210 reclaimed water rules.

Why are Texas communities turning to direct potable reuse?

Because the state's own plan shows a growing gap in a severe drought, and effluent is a supply the community already controls.

The 2027 State Water Plan, Phase I, adopted by TWDB on July 23, 2026, projects potential shortages of 3.6 million acre-feet per year in 2030 and 5.8 million in 2080 under drought-of-record conditions. Municipal shortages grow from 20 percent of those needs in 2030 to 57 percent by 2080.

Recommended direct potable reuse strategies grow from about 36,000 acre-feet per year in 2030 to about 140,000 in 2080. That is under 2 percent of the plan's 2080 strategy supply.

Our engineering read: wastewater flow comes mostly from indoor use, so it keeps coming in a dry year when reservoirs fall.

Which Texas communities already use direct potable reuse?

Two have run it and a third is building it. The TWDB fact sheet documents all three.

• Big Spring. In May 2013 the Colorado River Municipal Water District began operating the first DPR facility in the nation. It treats Big Spring's effluent and blends it with surface water.
• Wichita Falls. In July 2014 the city started an emergency DPR facility. Effluent moved through a 12-mile above-ground pipeline and was treated to produce 5 million gallons per day, blended with surface water. It was decommissioned in 2015 after a year.
• El Paso. El Paso Water piloted DPR in 2016. Its Pure Water Center is designed for up to 10 million gallons per day, sent directly into the distribution system. The project page lists construction underway and opening planned for 2029.

The TWDB fact sheet says El Paso's plant will be the first to let advanced treated water flow directly into distribution. The first two blended with surface water.

How does a direct potable reuse plant treat wastewater?

With several independent barriers, each one monitored, so a single failure does not reach the tap.

RG-634 says TCEQ looks for at least two physical removal processes and two inactivation or oxidation processes. It only approves plants with treatment that removes or degrades a wide range of chemicals, such as reverse osmosis (RO) and UV with advanced oxidation. El Paso's 2016 pilot used four steps:

1. Membrane filtration
2. Reverse osmosis
3. UV disinfection with advanced oxidation
4. Granular activated carbon filtration

TCEQ's minimum pathogen log removal values for DPR are 5.5-log Cryptosporidium, 6-log Giardia and 8-log virus, higher if effluent sampling shows the need.

Every unit must prove it is working. Membrane filters need a direct integrity test at least daily, at a resolution of 3 micrometers or less. TCEQ also needs online monitoring with alarms and shutdowns, which means a SCADA system built for the plant.

RO permeate can come out below pH 6 and very corrosive, so the water must be stabilized. The guidance lists decarbonation, caustic soda, lime, blending and orthophosphate. If RO is new to your system, our notes on running reverse osmosis systems efficiently cover the operating side.

How does TCEQ approve a direct potable reuse project?

As an exception to the public water system design rules, granted one project at a time on pilot data.

RG-634 says neither TCEQ nor EPA rules define design standards for DPR. TCEQ uses the exception process in 30 TAC §290.39(l), which allows site-specific design, operation, maintenance and reporting requirements. 30 TAC §290.42(g) considers innovative treatment individually, on pilot or full-scale data. The guidance sets the sequence, condensed here:

1. Sample the source plant's effluent for at least 12 months.
2. Submit a pilot protocol from a Texas licensed professional engineer before starting.
3. Run the pilot: each unit at least 30 days at maximum flow. DPR pilots may last 6 months or more. Pilot water never enters distribution.
4. Submit the pilot report. TCEQ can then grant the exceptions.
5. Submit sealed plans and specifications for approval to construct.
6. Build the plant.
7. Submit the CT study, plus membrane integrity test parameters if used, near the end of construction.
8. Run a full-scale verification test of at least 14 days under a TCEQ-reviewed protocol and submit its report. TCEQ's approval of that report lets the water reach customers.

What does a DPR project need besides the treatment plant?

Licensed operators, a controlled source, a home for RO concentrate, a backup supply, usable water rights and funding.

• Operators. The plant is staffed whenever it produces water, with at least one Class B or higher surface water operator. The source wastewater plant needs at least one full-time operator with a Class B wastewater license or higher.
• Source control. TCEQ's pretreatment program joins the review, and a source plant may not take hauled waste.
• Concentrate. Discharging RO concentrate into or next to water in the state needs a TPDES permit.
• Backup. A plant that misses its exception conditions cannot produce drinking water, so you need a contingency source.
• Water rights. Your surface water right or contract must allow the use.

RG-634 warns that some systems underestimate DPR cost, and a full estimate may show other sources are cheaper. So utilities and municipalities should compare DPR with indirect reuse and new raw water before a pilot. TWDB's SWIFT program funds reuse, but only for projects recommended in the most recently adopted state water plan.

How do communities build public support for drinking recycled water?

They start talking at the very beginning and keep at it until the plant runs.

RG-634 advises discussing the project's reason, cost and type with the community from the start through operation, and notes that pilots have been used to educate the public. El Paso Water plans a public education facility at the Pure Water Center, with views of the process and a water-tasting station.

Is your community ready to evaluate direct potable reuse?

It is a real candidate if all six answers below are yes.

1. Does your supply plan show a drought shortfall that existing sources and conservation will not close?
2. Does your wastewater plant consistently meet its TPDES or TLAP permit, and can it get TCEQ approval to provide reclaimed water?
3. Can you start 12 months of effluent sampling, including unregulated contaminants?
4. Can the source plant stop taking hauled waste?
5. Is there a permittable outlet for RO concentrate?
6. Can another source serve customers when the DPR plant is offline?

Six yeses mean DPR is worth a feasibility study. Any no is the first problem to solve.

Questions for your engineer: Which treatment train fits our effluent? Is a raw water blend simpler than direct to distribution? How will we stabilize RO permeate?

A note on limits: this is general education from TCEQ's 2022 guidance, the 2027 State Water Plan and public project information as of October 2026. TCEQ sets requirements project by project, and no article can predict an approval or a schedule.

Frequently asked questions

Is direct potable reuse legal in Texas?

Yes. TCEQ approves it case by case as an exception to its public water system rules.

What is the difference between direct and indirect potable reuse?

Indirect reuse passes through a lake or aquifer before it is withdrawn for treatment. Direct reuse has no buffer.

I manage a small city water system in West Texas and our reservoir drops every summer. Where do we start if the council wants to look at direct potable reuse?

Check what your regional plan recommends for your system, since SWIFT funding follows recommended strategies. Then plan 12 months of effluent sampling from RG-634's Appendix A list. That data drives the pilot protocol.

I run operations for a Texas utility, and my board asked what happens if a DPR treatment unit fails a test. How does that work?

Under RG-634, the unit is shut down, repaired and retested before it produces water again. That is why TCEQ expects a contingency source and suggests redundant units where supply is limited.

Related resources

• California's New Direct Potable Reuse Rules: What the Regulations Actually Require and Where Implementation Stands
• Your Three Wastewater Disposal Options in Texas: Discharge, Reuse, or Land Application
• Texas Chapter 210 Reclaimed Water Permits: Type I vs. Type II and When You Need One
• Optimizing Small Water Treatment Plants Tips and Tricks for Rural Providers

Weighing direct potable reuse for your water supply?

We help Texas utilities and cities compare reuse options, plan the effluent sampling and pilot work, and prepare the plans and specifications TCEQ reviews.

Talk to Modern Engineering Solutions about your water supply, or call (214) 833-6748.