Councilmembers Poo Poo Upstream Effluent Plan

Councilmember Chris Riley and Mayor Lee Leffingwell are crapping all over a plan by the Cities of Leander and Granite Shoals to discharge treated sewage, or effluent (pronounced "eff-you-uhnt"), into the Highland Lakes, including Lake Travis and Lake Austin. Lake Austin is currently the sole source of drinking water in Austin and the newly approved water treatment plant will draw from Lake Travis. Other councilmembers will decide on Thursday whether to join them in opposition. The Lower Colorado River Authority and Travis County have already indicated that they are opposed to the new plan.

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules currently prohibit new treated wastewater effluent discharges into any of the Highland Lakes. LCRA predicts considerable degradation of water quality in the Highland Lakes if new discharges are authorized. Most of the fecal matter is removed from treated wastewater (unless there is a malfunction or it rains), but other contaminants remain - notably pharmaceuticals.

Austin currently discharges its water downstream into the Colorado River, but there are no public drinking water supply intakes on the Colorado River downstream of Austin.

Repealing the rules would allow the cities of Leander and Granite Shoals to grow more easily and cheaply by bringing down the cost of treating sewage, according to their TCEQ petition. However, it would impose more costs on Austinites to treat the water to remove contaminants before drinking it.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Shawn Shillington in News on November 3, 2009 11:05 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Grape Ape

Oh I totally agree CO, I was just saying it ends up in the water supply anyway, just in lesser quantities. Just letting people know that Zilker isn't the only place to ever use Dillo Dirt.

causal observer

Flower beds, lawns and landscaping are one thing. The water supply is another thing entirely.

Grape Ape

It's in every flower bed, lawn and almost all landscaping done in the city and it has been for years and years. If anything, its cleaner now than ever.

Trancereducer

"Most of the fecal matter is removed...."

Wait a minute, "Most?"

Let me be the first to say fuck that shit.

cs45977

That's right there is only one place for effluent in Austin ... Zilker Park during ACL ...

causal observer

Give 'em hell, Leffingwell! Whether or not to dump treated shit into the drinking supply of 2 million people should NOT be decided by the highest bidder. Humph!