2008 Results
In 2008, the Center for the Management, Utilization and Protection of Water Resources and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) distributed the third annual survey of Tennessee wastewater treatment utilities (only those that are legally allowed to handle 0.1 million of gallons or more of water per day [mgd]) to find out which ones were using water conservation and water reuse practices. A survey like this is important to Tennessee as it faces strong pressures on its water resources from human use, and the 2008 results are below.You may also view the results from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Web site links at
http://www.state.tn.us/environment/dws/ and http://www.state.tn.us/environment/wpc/other.shtml.
(*To view pdf files, you will need Adobe Acrobat software for Macintosh, Windows or Linux. This software is available free at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.)
System Highlight:
Murfreesboro Water and Sewer Repurified Water System
Rutherford County
Joseph Kirchner, Director
P.O. Box 1477, 300 NW Broad Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37133
At the Murfreesboro Water and Sewer Repurified Water System, repurified water is used for irrigating public right-of-ways in the heavily landscaped median of Medical Center Parkway. A large commercial retail site, The Avenue, uses it for irrigation. The Siegel Soccer Complex, a City-owned park, is also irrigated with repurified water. Recently, two commercial office developments have asked about using the repurified water for toilet flushing.
2008 Results
Ninety-five household wastewater treatment facilities returned the survey. Of these, three treated wastewater (or reclaimed water) to be reused in 2008. The total amount of wastewater these treatment facilities can handle is 18.65 mgd, and those facilities treated 16.55 mgd of domestic wastewater in 2008. Approximately 2.69 mgd of treated wastewater from these facilities were reused for beneficial purposes (like those listed in the table below).
This table shows the number of facilities that reuse water in each TDEC Environmental Field Office District. It also shows how the treated wastewater was used within each district (how many golf courses, schools and parks were irrigated with it, etc.).
| TDEC Environ. Field Office |
No. of Reuse Systems |
Area of Residences Irrigated | Area of Golf Courses Irrigated | No. of Parks Irrigated | No. of Schools Irrigated | Area of Other Public Access Irrigated | Edible Crops | Area of Grass, Pasture, Other Crops Irrigated | Groundwater Recharge & Indirect Reuse |
| Chattanooga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Columbia | 2 | 0 | 154 acres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 acres | 0 |
| Cookeville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnson City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Knoxville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Memphis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nashville | 1 | 5 acres | 221 acres | 2 | 0 | 124 acres | 0 | 600 acres | 0 |
| 2008 Total | 3 | 5 acres | 375 acres | 2 | 0 | 124 acres | 0 | 668 acres | 0 |
| The following table summarizes the way reuse water was used among the three systems that practiced the technique. It also includes the number of reuse systems, capacity, flow and area for each reuse type. | ||||
| Reuse Type | Number of Systems | Capacity (mgd) | Flow (mgd) | Area Acres |
| Public Access Areas & Landscape Irrigation | ||||
| Golf Course Irrigation | 2 | 1.5 | 375 | |
| Residential Irrigation | 1 | 0.013 | 5 | |
| Other Public Access Areas | 1 | 0.177 | 124 | |
| Subtotal | 4 | 1.69 | 504 | |
| Agricultural Irrigation | ||||
Edible Crops |
0 | 0 | ||
Other Crops |
1 | 0.31 | 600 | |
Subtotal |
1 | 0.31 | 600 | |
|
|
||||
Rapid Infiltration Basins |
0 | |||
Adsorption Fields (See definition below) |
0 | |||
Surface Water Augmentation |
0 | |||
Injection |
0 | |||
Subtotal |
0 | |||
Industrial |
||||
At Treatment Plant |
0 | |||
At Other Facilities |
0 | |||
Subtotal |
0 | |||
| Toilet Flushing |
0 | |||
Fire Protection |
0 | |||
Wetlands |
0 | |||
Other Uses |
0 | |||
Totals |
5 | 2.0 | 1104 | |
Adsorption Fields: a drainfield, including the application/distribution system, intended for the reuse of reclaimed water.
Indirect Potable Reuse: for these purposes, the planned discharge of reclaimed water to surface waters to augment the supply of water available for drinking and other uses.
Contact information for each of the three systems that practiced water reuse is below.
| Reuse System Name | County | Contact Person/Title | Address |
| King's Creek Golf Course | Maury | Travis Massey, Superintendent | 3893 Mahlon Moore Rd., Spring Hill, TN 37174 |
| Murfreesboro Water and Sewer Repurified Water System | Rutherford | Joseph Kirchner, Director | P.O. Box 1477, 300 NW Broad Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 |
| Sewanee Utility District | Franklin | Ben Beavers, General Manager | P.O. Box 3211 Sewanee, TN 37375 |
For a listing of the entire 2008 results or to report omissions or inaccuracies,
please contact the Center's main office at 931/372-3507.
The questions and format of the inventory survey were patterned after the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Annual Reuse Report. The Center and TDEC express gratitude to Dr. David York (Water Reuse Coordinator, Department of Environmental Protection, 3900 Commonwealth Boulevard M.S. 49, Tallahassee, Florida 32399) for granting permission to utilize material contained in the FDEP Annual Reuse Report. Appreciation is also extended to the Tennessee Association of Utility Districts (TAUD) for providing their support of the Reuse Inventory.
