WateReuse is an international group of individuals and organizations working together to create a new source of water. WateReuse's main focus is reclaimed water and desalination. The promotion of such methods is the central purpose for WateReuse. With this as the core for the organization, WateReuse is able to concentrate their efforts into finding the right process and technology that goes into purifying water. WateReuse's goal is to find high-quality water in abnormal water sources through supporting water projects, with safety as a key factor in mind. WateReuse consists of two sectors, WateReuse Association and WateReuse Research Foundation, that makes these goals possible. Both have separate Board of Directors, but share the same goal. This nonprofit organization is located across the United States. WateReuse Association has seven state sections and an international division.
Overview and History
WateReuse was founded in 1990. On August 1, 2000, G. Wade Miller was named the first full-time executive director, with an office established in Washington D.C. Under Miller's control, the WateReuse Association accumulated about 400 organizational leaders and sponsored legislation. The WateReuse Research Foundation has been given federal funding and has built a network full of scientists and technicians, developing knowledge to the success of recycling and desalinating water. In August 2013, G. Wade Miller declared his resignation from WateReuse. On March 25, 2014, Melissa L. Meeker was named executive director on WateReuse by the Board of Directors. With this new position, Meeker will guide the two organizations in strategic growth. She will also lead the operational programs, their staff, and the execution of these missions. Meeker has over 20 years of experience as a seasoned water executive, with expertise ranging in policy development as well as executive management.
WateReuse Association
Overview
WateReuse focuses on taking water from sources such as seawater and wastewater and turning them into usable water. The Association part of WateReuse is one of the two branches of the organization that centralizes their efforts into supporting water projects that are finding ways to generate high-quality water from sources such as storm water and seawater. WateReuse Association is a nonprofit trade association that engages in advocacy through legislation and conducts education providing new opportunities for other water reuse communities. WateReuse also focuses on taking wastewater and transforming that into high-quality reclaimed water that can potentially be used for everyday uses such as landscaping and irrigation, as well as drinking water. WateReuse Association highly emphasizes their priorities on educating the public about why reclaimed water should be used, what their benefits are, and reassuring that problems with reclaimed water, such as contamination, will not occur.
WateReuse Association's California section states their mission as: "To promote responsible stewardship of California's water resources by maximizing the safe, practical and beneficial use of recycled water and by supporting the efforts of the WateReuse Association." WateReuse California worked with Water Education Foundation to create a 16-page booklet that teaches elementary students about what recycled water really is. With the help of the Los Angeles County Chapter, WateReuse California created an irrigation user's manual on how to use recycled water on their irrigations.
Advocacy
WateReuse has been very effective in California by successfully getting more than 35 legislations enacted over a span of twenty years. In the National level, WateReuse has focused its efforts on obtaining fund for their Research Foundation through Congress. They were successfully able to secure $17.3 million in Federal funding. WateReuse also reauthorized the Water Desalination Act of 1996. WateReuse has taken a controversial stance against labeling the 'forever chemicals' per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances as hazardous waste, or regulating these as a family of chemicals with similar biological activity, stating that the point source pollution via water reuse is not the primary responsibility of municipal treatment plants.
WateReuse Research Foundation
Overview
WateReuse Research Foundation has a mission of conducting and promoting applied research on reclaiming and desalinating water. This nonprofit corporation conducts research on behalf of communities that include water and wastewater. Their goal is to advance the science and technology of this process. WateReuse researches different issues that are possible within the recycling and desalination process, and makes sure no contaminants will escape into this new source of water. WateReuse Research Foundation hope to be the voice for research on the reuse of water. It is a public benefit corporation that focuses on applied research of issues.
Research
WateReuse Research Foundation gets its funding from its Subscribers and funding partners such as the Bureau of Reclamation, the California Department of Water Resources and more. The research that this foundation conducts includes issues concerning contaminants and bacteria. It also focuses on researching ways to benefit the communities that will fulfill their needs for water.
