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Water firm seizes stake in Devon sewage protester’s home over unpaid bills

News Feed
Saturday, June 8, 2024

South West Water has taken a legal stake in a customer’s home after she withheld her bill payments in a protest over sewage dumping in rivers and the sea.Thousands of water company customers are thought to be withholding payments but this is the first known case of a company enforcing a claim against a customer’s home.Imogen May, of Crediton, Devon, has withheld payment since 2019 and has a £2,809 debt. South West Water won a county court judgment over the debt and has claimed an interest in May’s cottage via the Land Registry. When it is sold, the company can claim what it says it is owed.May has also withheld payment of council tax, arguing that the funds are not spent on people’s priorities, such as environmental projects and children’s mental health services. The council is now applying for a court order to force the sale of May’s cottage.“This is about using my place of privilege as a homeowner to push the boundaries,” she said. “It’s about necessity – unless we challenge them and show them that we’re not frightened of them, they will continue to do what they’re doing.”“They are killing our water,” May told the Guardian. “Without our water, we are dead. I care deeply about the planet and biodiversity and I just want to inspire people to stop paying these bastards to rip us off.“The language of money is the only thing they really understand. They can have it by all means when they spend our money on what it’s designed for. But they are openly polluting our waters and I’m done with it.”May, who works in a bakery, has frequently taken part in environmental protests. She was arrested while blocking Lambeth Bridge in London as part of an Extinction Rebellion protest in 2019 and released without charge. Charges brought over a protest against the HS2 rail development in Buckinghamshire in 2020 were later dismissed.May’s home is already up for sale as she had decided to downsize after her two daughters left home. She is undecided about what to do once the house is sold, “but if I am set with a choice to pay these bills or go to prison then I’ll pay the bloody bills,” she said. “I’ve promised my kids that I would not end up in prison.”The council is applying for a court order to force the sale of May’s cottage. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The GuardianA spokesperson for South West Water said it did not comment on individual customers’ cases. “We are serious about tackling storm overflows and change of this scale takes time, ambition and increased investment, and that is why we are investing £850m in our region over two years,” he said. “We will also be the first water company to meet the government target of less than 10 spills per overflow, per year, a decade ahead of target.”skip past newsletter promotionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionSouth West Water increased its annual dividend to investors to £127m in May. In the same month, 17,000 of its customers had to boil water due to contamination with the cryptosporidium parasite, which results from faecal pollution of water supplies.Frequent overflows of sewage into rivers and the sea has become a high-profile issue in recent years. Multimillion-pound court fines have been levied against a number of English water companies over their failings, and their large debts and dividend payments to shareholders have become controversial. Thousands of customers are thought to be boycotting their payments, with bill strikes ongoing against all nine companies dealing with wastewater in England.Julie Wassmer, of Whitstable, Kent, helped found the BoycottWaterBills.com website. She has withheld the sewerage portion of her water bill from Southern Water since 2021, totalling about £1,000.“We know for a fact that we’ve got boycott action in all the wastewater areas,” she said. “We haven’t got a complete figure on how many people are boycotting nationally but we believe it’s thousands,” based on mailing list numbers and web activity.Wassmer said the process for complaining to water companies was “not fit for purpose” and that the industry regulator, Ofwat, was ineffective in stemming the sewage pollution. “So there’s no chance of holding the companies to account. The whole thing is just a legalised scam and it’s only benefited the companies, the executives and their shareholders, and people are doing the only thing I think we can do, which is to withhold payment.”She likened the widespread bills boycott to the successful anti-fracking campaigns in which she has also taken part. “There are so many different people involved and that means we’re hydra-headed and more difficult for the companies to pick us off.”Caz Dennett, of Weymouth, started the Don’t Pay for Dirty Water campaign with Extinction Rebellion. “It seemed like an obvious action for people to take to truly demonstrate how sickening and scandalous the water company racket is,” she said. She has withheld the sewage charge part of her Wessex Water bill for 14 months and is in dispute with the company over the £940 it says she owes.Katy Taylor, the chief customer officer at Southern Water, said: “To reduce storm overflows, we have a £1.5bn investment increasing storage capacity and finding ways to divert rain back to the environment naturally.”A Wessex Water spokesperson said: “We agree [storm overflows] are outdated and we’re currently spending over £3m a month to progressively improve them. Subject to regulatory approval, this investment will double.”Wassmer said: “Nationalisation appears to be the only way forward. England is the only country in the world to have a fully privatised water industry. So it’s not only a national disgrace, it’s an international disgrace.”

Imogen May has withheld payments since 2019 and is thought to be one of thousands boycotting water chargesSouth West Water has taken a legal stake in a customer’s home after she withheld her bill payments in a protest over sewage dumping in rivers and the sea.Thousands of water company customers are thought to be withholding payments but this is the first known case of a company enforcing a claim against a customer’s home. Continue reading...

South West Water has taken a legal stake in a customer’s home after she withheld her bill payments in a protest over sewage dumping in rivers and the sea.

Thousands of water company customers are thought to be withholding payments but this is the first known case of a company enforcing a claim against a customer’s home.

Imogen May, of Crediton, Devon, has withheld payment since 2019 and has a £2,809 debt. South West Water won a county court judgment over the debt and has claimed an interest in May’s cottage via the Land Registry. When it is sold, the company can claim what it says it is owed.

May has also withheld payment of council tax, arguing that the funds are not spent on people’s priorities, such as environmental projects and children’s mental health services. The council is now applying for a court order to force the sale of May’s cottage.

“This is about using my place of privilege as a homeowner to push the boundaries,” she said. “It’s about necessity – unless we challenge them and show them that we’re not frightened of them, they will continue to do what they’re doing.”

“They are killing our water,” May told the Guardian. “Without our water, we are dead. I care deeply about the planet and biodiversity and I just want to inspire people to stop paying these bastards to rip us off.

“The language of money is the only thing they really understand. They can have it by all means when they spend our money on what it’s designed for. But they are openly polluting our waters and I’m done with it.”

May, who works in a bakery, has frequently taken part in environmental protests. She was arrested while blocking Lambeth Bridge in London as part of an Extinction Rebellion protest in 2019 and released without charge. Charges brought over a protest against the HS2 rail development in Buckinghamshire in 2020 were later dismissed.

May’s home is already up for sale as she had decided to downsize after her two daughters left home. She is undecided about what to do once the house is sold, “but if I am set with a choice to pay these bills or go to prison then I’ll pay the bloody bills,” she said. “I’ve promised my kids that I would not end up in prison.”

The council is applying for a court order to force the sale of May’s cottage. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The Guardian

A spokesperson for South West Water said it did not comment on individual customers’ cases. “We are serious about tackling storm overflows and change of this scale takes time, ambition and increased investment, and that is why we are investing £850m in our region over two years,” he said. “We will also be the first water company to meet the government target of less than 10 spills per overflow, per year, a decade ahead of target.”

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

South West Water increased its annual dividend to investors to £127m in May. In the same month, 17,000 of its customers had to boil water due to contamination with the cryptosporidium parasite, which results from faecal pollution of water supplies.

Frequent overflows of sewage into rivers and the sea has become a high-profile issue in recent years. Multimillion-pound court fines have been levied against a number of English water companies over their failings, and their large debts and dividend payments to shareholders have become controversial. Thousands of customers are thought to be boycotting their payments, with bill strikes ongoing against all nine companies dealing with wastewater in England.

Julie Wassmer, of Whitstable, Kent, helped found the BoycottWaterBills.com website. She has withheld the sewerage portion of her water bill from Southern Water since 2021, totalling about £1,000.

“We know for a fact that we’ve got boycott action in all the wastewater areas,” she said. “We haven’t got a complete figure on how many people are boycotting nationally but we believe it’s thousands,” based on mailing list numbers and web activity.

Wassmer said the process for complaining to water companies was “not fit for purpose” and that the industry regulator, Ofwat, was ineffective in stemming the sewage pollution. “So there’s no chance of holding the companies to account. The whole thing is just a legalised scam and it’s only benefited the companies, the executives and their shareholders, and people are doing the only thing I think we can do, which is to withhold payment.”

She likened the widespread bills boycott to the successful anti-fracking campaigns in which she has also taken part. “There are so many different people involved and that means we’re hydra-headed and more difficult for the companies to pick us off.”

Caz Dennett, of Weymouth, started the Don’t Pay for Dirty Water campaign with Extinction Rebellion. “It seemed like an obvious action for people to take to truly demonstrate how sickening and scandalous the water company racket is,” she said. She has withheld the sewage charge part of her Wessex Water bill for 14 months and is in dispute with the company over the £940 it says she owes.

Katy Taylor, the chief customer officer at Southern Water, said: “To reduce storm overflows, we have a £1.5bn investment increasing storage capacity and finding ways to divert rain back to the environment naturally.”

A Wessex Water spokesperson said: “We agree [storm overflows] are outdated and we’re currently spending over £3m a month to progressively improve them. Subject to regulatory approval, this investment will double.”

Wassmer said: “Nationalisation appears to be the only way forward. England is the only country in the world to have a fully privatised water industry. So it’s not only a national disgrace, it’s an international disgrace.”

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

Related News

New Gear Could Keep California Crab Fishermen on the Water Longer, and Whales Safe

After years of a shortened crab fishing season aimed at preventing whale entanglements off the West Coast, California crabbers are experimenting with a new fishing method that allows them to stay on the water longer while keeping the marine mammals safe

After years of a shortened crab fishing season aimed at preventing whale entanglements off the West Coast, California crabbers are experimenting with a new fishing method that allows them to stay on the water longer while keeping the marine mammals safe.The state has been running a pilot program since 2023 to try out so-called pop-up gear to protect whales while finding a solution to fishermen's woes and is expected to fully authorize the gear for spring Dungeness crab fishing in 2026. The gear, which uses a remote device to pull up lines laid horizontally across the sea floor, also is being tried on lobster in Maine, black sea bass in Georgia and fisheries in Australia and Canada.“Unfortunately, it has been six years we've been delayed or closed early for whales,” said Brand Little, a San Francisco Dungeness crab fisherman who is among those participating in the pilot. "This is a way to get our industry back," he said.The effort comes after reports of whale entanglements off the Pacific Coast spiked a decade ago during a marine heat wave. The change in temperature drove whales, many of them threatened or endangered humpbacks, to seek out food sources closer to the California coast, where they were caught in vertical fishing lines that had been strung between crab pots on the ocean floor and buoys bobbing on the surface.In response, California state regulators barred Dungeness crab fishing when whales are known to be present. That shortened the season significantly, giving fishermen a narrow window in which to make a living. So some began trying pop-up gear and determined the method works and is worth the additional cost.The gear lets fishermen use a remote-operated, acoustic release device to pop-up a crab pot from the ocean floor rather than have it tethered to a floating buoy. Pots can be strung together with ropes laid horizontally instead of vertically, so whales can pass over them while migrating through the area.“If you remove the vertical line, you have removed the entanglement risk, and you have allowed a fishery to continue,” said Ryan Bartling, senior environmental scientist supervisor with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.Many long-time Dungeness crab fishermen have been slow to warm up to the idea due to the cost, which can run $1,000 per pop-up device plus an on-board unit. It also takes time to restring the pots after an intense winter season of derby-style fishing, which takes place when whales are calving in warmer waters to the south.There also is a need for a unified tracking system since the gear isn’t visible on the surface, Bartling said.More than four dozen whales were entangled in fishing nets in 2015, compared with an annual average of 10 in prior years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Many were humpback whales, which were listed as endangered in the 1970s and have been recovering since protections were put in place, the agency said.Environmental advocates sued California over the increased entanglements and reached a settlement with the state in 2019 that encouraged the use of ropeless gear.Bart Chadwick, who owns San Diego-based Sub Sea Sonics, said he previously used pop-up technology to retrieve expensive equipment while conducting environmental work at sea. When he retired from his job, he made tweaks so it could be adapted for fishing.“It allows them to fish in places they wouldn’t otherwise,” Chadwick said, adding the technology also reduces gear losses.Most Dungeness crab fishermen make their money during the early part of the season when whales typically aren't near the California coast. Experts say the pop-up gear won't work then due to crowding and the technology is currently being considered solely for the smaller spring season, which starts April 16 in central California.Geoff Shester, senior scientist at conservation organization Oceana, said he thinks the method could eventually be used more broadly if fishermen find it efficient and cost-effective.“Think about electric cars, or hybrids, or even digital cameras," Shester said. "Every time you have a new technology, there is a lot of resistance at first.”Crab fisherman Ben Platt said he was a vocal opponent but will join this year's pilot since multiple pots now can be strung together, making the method simpler and cheaper. Still, he said many fishermen have concerns and aren't likely to get on board.“We’ll just have to see and take a look at the results,” Platt said.For Stephen Melz, who fishes out of Half Moon Bay, California, having more time out on the ocean is key. Years ago, he said he would go out for Dungeness crab starting in November and fish through the spring.Now, with the shortened season, he said there is no room for error and the gear helps him get out so he can pay his bills.“Better than just sitting at dock,” he said.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

Water
Conservation
Technology

To avoid a water crisis, Texas may bet big on desalination. Here’s how it works in El Paso.

Desalination can create millions of gallons of fresh water a day. But it is expensive and there are many environmental concerns.

Subscribe to The Y’all — a weekly dispatch about the people, places and policies defining Texas, produced by Texas Tribune journalists living in communities across the state. This article is part of Running Out, an occasional series about Texas’ water crisis. Read more stories about the threats facing Texas’ water supply here. EL PASO — The wind swept through El Paso one day in March, lifting a fine layer of dust that settled onto windshields, clothes and skin. The air was thick with haze from a dust storm. This border city, perched on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, receives on average less than 9 inches of rain each year. Water in the city of 679,000 people is a challenge. Inside El Paso’s Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant, Hector Sepúlveda, the plant’s superintendent, walks through rows of towering steel tubes as a loud hum vibrates through the air. This machinery is essential to providing thousands in the city with clean water. “This is a desert community,” Sepúlveda said. “So the water utilities have to always think ahead and be very resourceful and very smart and find resources to take the water that we do have here and provide for a desert community.” Sepúlveda says the city’s dry climate, compounded by dwindling ground and surface water supplies and climate change has made innovation essential. A key piece of that strategy is desalination — the process of removing salt and other minerals from seawater or salty groundwater so people can drink it. An inversion layer of dust settles over downtown El Paso on March 6, 2025. The city’s little rain and dry climate has led water leaders to diversify where it gets its water from. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune When it opened in 2007, El Paso’s desalination plant was the largest inland desalination facility in the world. It was built through a partnership between El Paso Water and Fort Bliss, one of the nation’s largest military bases, when water shortages threatened the base’s operations. Today, at max capacity the plant can supply up to 27.5 million gallons per day — helping stretch the city’s supply by making use of the region’s abundance of brackish groundwater, salty groundwater with salinity levels higher than freshwater, but lower than seawater. The city wants to expand the plant’s capacity to 33.5 million gallons per day by 2028. El Pasoans used about 105 million gallons per day last year. As Texas faces twin pressures of population growth and prolonged drought, lawmakers are looking to desalination as a way forward. The Texas Legislature took a major step in 2023, creating the New Water Supply for Texas Fund, to support desalination projects — including both brackish and seawater. This legislative session, lawmakers are pushing to accelerate that effort with a bill by state Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican, that could dedicate millions for new water projects, including desalination. Senate Bill 7 cleared the upper chamber earlier this month and is now awaiting a House committee’s consideration. “We've developed all the cheap water, and all the low-hanging fruit has been obtained. There is no more of it, and it's depleting what's left. We're going into the second phase of water development through brackish marine, brackish produced water and brackish aquifers,” Perry said on the Senate floor before his colleagues gave the legislation unanimous approval. Latest in the series: Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis Loading content … Sixty municipal water desalination facilities are already online, according to the Texas Water Development Board, the state agency that helps manage and finance water supply projects. Of those, 43 desalinate brackish groundwater. El Paso’s is the largest. As of December 2024, the agency had designated 31 brackish groundwater sites as production zones, meaning they have moderate to high availability of brackish groundwater to treat. The board’s 2022 state water plan proposes implementing an additional 37 brackish groundwater desalination projects in South Texas cities like McAllen, Mission, San Benito; and West Texas towns like Abilene and Midland. The plan states that if all recommended strategies are used, groundwater desalination could make up about 2.1% of the state’s projected water needs by producing 157,000 acre-feet per year by 2070 — enough to support 942,000 Texans for one year. Still, desalination isn’t without tradeoffs. The technology takes a lot of energy, and construction costs can be steep. There are also several factors to consider that affect the final price tag: How deep the water lies, how salty it is, how far it needs to travel, and how to dispose of the leftover salty waste. The water board estimates treating brackish groundwater can run anywhere from $357 to $782 per acre-foot, while seawater desalination ranges from $800 to $1,400. Lawmakers say water funding at a state-level is critical to help communities shoulder the upfront costs of these alternative water supplies. Hector Sepúlveda, superintendent of the Kay Bailey Desalination Plant in El Paso, lives just minutes away — he jokes it's a convenience since his job is to keep the plant running. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune How brackish groundwater desalination works Sepúlveda, who has spent more than 30 years with El Paso Water, says the process at the desalination plant begins with brackish groundwater drawn from 15 wells near the El Paso International Airport. The salty water is transported to the plant where it is first filtered through strainers to remove sand particles. Then it is transported through cartridge filters. This process is similar to how household water filters work, but far more efficient. The cartridge filters trap fine sediments smaller than a strand of hair, further filtering the water before it reaches the heart of the system: reverse osmosis, often referred to as RO membranes. Sepúlveda, who wears a blue construction hat and highlighter yellow vest, stands amid a room full of long rows of stacked steel tubes, or RO membrane units. Here, brackish groundwater gets turned into fresh, drinkable water. It’s pumped through these tubes — each with 72 vessels — at extremely high pressure, leaving behind salt and bacteria. A sectional view shows the inside of an RO tube that filters out salt at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso, Texas on March 4. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune “We’re separating the undesirable stuff from the potable water,” he said, as he opened a faucet and sipped the water. “At the end you end up with safe drinking water. The process is just amazing.” Once cleaned, the water is divided between El Paso Water customers and Fort Bliss. Sepúlveda said they will soon expand the plant to produce 33.5 million gallons per day by adding a sixth row of RO membranes. The brine, or concentrated salty water left over from the process, is pumped 22 miles to deep well injection sites. The desal plant can separate up to 3 million gallons of brine a day. At the site, the concentrate is sent 3,500 feet underground into a fractured rock formation. Concerns of desalination While brackish groundwater desalination has proven to be a viable solution for inland communities like El Paso, environmentalists are raising concerns about the potential consequences of scaling up the water strategy. Seawater desalination is gaining attention as Gulf Coast cities like Corpus Christi start developing their own seawater desalination facility. For seawater desalination, Shane Walker, professor and director of a water research center at Texas Tech University, says the main concern is removing the excess salt. While most of the salinity comes from dissolved minerals that aren’t harmful, Walker says, high concentrations — think of over-salted French fries — can harm marine life and disrupt coastal ecosystems. Seawater is much saltier than brackish water and salt levels vary widely depending on the source. In seawater desalination, the brine byproduct — which can be twice as salty as seawater — is often discharged back into the ocean. If not properly managed, this can increase salinity in bays and estuaries, threatening species like oysters, crabs and shrimp that are critical to local fisheries and ecosystems. An aerial view of the coastline in Corpus Christi on July 6, 2024. The city is set to build the state’s first-ever seawater desalination plant. Credit: Pete Garcia for The Texas Tribune Myron Hess, an environmental consultant for the nonprofit National Wildlife Federation, said that when plants take in water it could potentially suck in marine creatures with the ocean water. “As you're diverting particularly massive amounts of water, you can be pulling in lots of organisms,” Hess said. For inland facilities like the Kay Bailey Hutchison plant, the environmental concerns are different. They don’t kill marine life, but disposal is still a concern. In El Paso, Art Ruiz, chief plant manager for El Paso Water and the former superintendent of the utility’s desalination plant, calls this disposal “chemistry salts” and says that disposal is handled through deep well injection into an isolated part of the aquifer. Ruiz said El Paso is blessed with a geological formation that has a natural fault that prevents the concentrate from migrating and contaminating the freshwater supply. In regions where this is not feasible, evaporation ponds are used, but they require large amounts of land and careful management to prevent environmental hazards. “Deep well injection is a common method used for larger desalination facilities, but the geology has to be right,” Walker said. “You have to ensure that the injection site is isolated and won’t contaminate freshwater aquifers.” Another concern raised by water experts is how Texas manages brackish groundwater and whether the state is doing enough to protect nearby freshwater sources. Senate Bill 2658 proposes to exempt certain brackish groundwater wells located within state-designated production zones from needing a permit. Experts say the move would bypass a permitting process in the state's water code that was specifically designed to safeguard freshwater aquifers. The central worry is that brackish and fresh groundwater are often hydrologically connected. While brackish groundwater can be an important part of the state's water portfolio, Vanessa Puig-Williams, a water expert with the Environmental Defense Fund, says there’s a real risk that pumping brackish water could unintentionally start drawing in and depleting nearby fresh water if oversight is not required from local groundwater conservation districts. Experts also caution that the production zones identified by the water board weren’t designed to guide site-specific decisions, such as how much a well can safely pump or whether it could affect nearby freshwater supplies. A pump and pipeline removes the waste water concentrate from the Kay Bailey Desalination Plant 22 miles away to be disposed of in a deep injection well. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune Hess, consulting for the National Wildlife Federation, authored a paper on the impacts of desalination, including the price tag. Constructing a facility is costly, as is the energy it takes to run it. El Paso’s desalination facility cost $98.3 million, including the production and injection wells construction, $26 million of which it received in federal funding. The technology to clean the water is energy intensive. Desalinating water in El Paso costs about $500 per acre-foot of water — 46% more than treating surface water from a river. Seawater facilities require even more energy, which adds to the costs in producing or cleaning the water. TWDB estimates those range from $800 to $1,400 per acre-foot. Texas has no operating seawater desalination plants for municipal use, but the state’s environmental agency, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, has authorized permits for two marine desalination facilities and has four pending applications for seawater desalination facilities, three in Corpus Christi and one in Port Isabel. “The first seawater plant in Texas is going to be expensive,” Walker said. “The first time somebody does something, it’s going to cost way more than the other ones that come along behind it, because we're having to figure out all the processes and procedures to do it the first time.” Lessons from El Paso and the path forward Back at the Kay Bailey Hutchison plant in El Paso, Sepúlveda, the plant’s superintendent, walks into a lab opened to students and professors from the University of Texas at El Paso, New Mexico State University, and Rice University to test new technologies to help refine the desalination processes or extend the lifespan of RO membranes. Sepúlveda said water utility employees have learned a lot since 2007 when the plant first opened. RO membranes, used to clean the salty water, cost anywhere from $600 to $800. El Paso uses 360 RO membranes to run its plant. To extend the life from five to 12 years, utility employees figured out a system by checking salinity levels before extracting from a certain well. “When we first bring water in from the brackish wells, we know how salty each well is, so we try to bring in the wells that are less salty to not put the membranes under such stress,” he said. “It almost doubled the life of the membrane.” He added that this technique is also helping plant operators reduce energy consumption. Plant operators have adjusted salinity levels by blending the brackish groundwater with less salty water, which helps prevent pipe corrosion and clogging. Jessiel Acosta tests the water hardness of the raw water feeding into the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso on March 4. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune Their pipes are also now winterized. After the 2011 freeze, El Paso upgraded insulation and installed heat tape to protect equipment. As Texas moves forward with more desalination projects, Sepúlveda said the lessons from El Paso will be critical as more plants go online. “You always have to be forward-thinking. Always have to be innovative,” he said, as the machines buzzed in the background. “You always have to be on top of the latest technological improvements to be able to extract water from whatever scant resources you have.” Disclosure: Environmental Defense Fund, Rice University, Texas Tech University and University of Texas at El Paso have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas’ breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

Water
Crisis
Conservation

A Byproduct of Manure Runoff Is Polluting Drinking Water in Thousands of US Communities, According to a New Report

Tens of millions of Americans have likely consumed drinking water containing cancer-causing chemicals that form when livestock manure and other organic substances end up in public water sources, according to a new analysis. Thousands of industrial-scale farms across the country spray manure from livestock onto farm or other lands, which then runs off into waterways. […]

The analysis, from the Environmental Working Group, takes a first-of-its-kind look at trihalomethanes, a contaminant linked to cancers and stillbirth.By Georgina GustinTens of millions of Americans have likely consumed drinking water containing cancer-causing chemicals that form when livestock manure and other organic substances end up in public water sources, according to a new analysis.

Water
Chemicals

US Regulators Finish Review of Hyundai Plant's Georgia Water Permit, Finding No Changes Needed

U.S. regulators have concluded a monthslong review of their environmental permit for Hyundai's $7.6 billion electric vehicle plant in Georgia, finding that no changes are needed

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — U.S. regulators have concluded a monthslong review of their environmental permit for Hyundai’s $7.6 billion electric vehicle plant in Georgia, finding that no changes are needed. The Army Corps of Engineers agreed to revisit the permit last August after a conservation group threatened to sue. The Ogeechee Riverkeeper group said the agency failed to consider potential impacts to the region's main drinking water supply from the factory using up to 6.6 million gallons (25 million liters) daily.No revisions to the site's federal permit are needed, the Army Corps said in a March 25 memo to the Georgia Department of Economic Development and local economic developers that applied for the Hyundai project’s 2022 permit."The impacts on the environment as a result of this permit have been evaluated and found to be insignificant,” the agency's memo said.The Army Corps said it determined the EV plant would have “a long-term minor effect” on the area’s drinking water supply. That conclusion differs from the wording federal regulators used when assessing the original permit in 2022, when they concluded water supply impacts would be “negligible.”Hyundai began producing EVs just six months ago at the sprawling manufacturing plant in Bryan County west of Savannah, with 1,200 employees working at the site. Hyundai executives celebrated the plant's opening last month by announcing plans to expand its production capacity by two-thirds to a total of 500,000 vehicles per year.The Army Corps permit obtained by state and local economic developers authorized the filling or dredging of 221 acres (89 hectares) of wetlands at the plant site just a few months after Hyundai announced plans to build its EV factory in May 2022.The initial permit application made no mention of how much water the 2,900-acre (1,170-hectare) factory would use. The riverkeeper group has said it is concerned the plant's consumption could divert water from wells used by area farmers, as well as streams and wetlands.Ben Kirsch, legal director for the Ogeechee Riverkeeper, said the group has requested additional records from the Army Corps to better understand its conclusions and the wording changes regarding water impacts. “We do not yet know what, if any, ramifications will come from that,” Kirsch said in a statement. "Until we review that decision document, we cannot offer substantive comments, but we continue to monitor actions around this permit closely.”Bianca Johnson, a spokesperson for Hyundai's Georgia plant, said the automaker had no comment.State and local officials who recruited Hyundai to Georgia praised the Army Corps for the “thoroughness” of its permit review. The Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Savannah area's Joint Development Authority said in a statement that they “remain dedicated to supporting industry and agriculture while protecting and preserving the environment.”Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

Water
Agriculture
Conservation

Toilet to tap: El Paso is about to embark on a whole new way to save its limited water supply

El Paso’s dry climate — it rains just 9 inches annually — is one of the reasons the city has taken water management so seriously.

Subscribe to The Y’all — a weekly dispatch about the people, places and policies defining Texas, produced by Texas Tribune journalists living in communities across the state. This article is part of Running Out, an occasional series about Texas’ water crisis. Read more stories about the threats facing Texas’ water supply here. EL PASO — It all starts with a flush of a toilet. Wastewater travels underground through this arid city’s pipes to a wastewater treatment facility where it goes through multiple treatment steps to filter out contaminants. The next step is purification. Membranes filter out contaminants at high pressure. Ultraviolet light and chlorine disinfect the water. A dash of minerals is added. The end result? Clean drinking water. Behind this effort is El Paso Water, the utility that serves 220,000 homes, businesses and government agencies in far West Texas. The Pure Water Center, which is expected to be fully operational in 2028, is the agency's latest attempt to use every drop of water and make it drinkable — a solution the city sees as essential for its future. El Paso has become a national leader in water innovation — pioneering brackish groundwater desalination, wastewater reuse, and aggressive conservation efforts, according to water experts. Now, it's taking another step forward. This advanced water purification system will deliver 10 million gallons daily in a city that used roughly 105 million gallons per day last year. Some say it will be the first direct potable reuse, or “toilet-to-tap” facility in the country. Inside a primary clarifier, resembling petri-dish tanks, heavy solids and grease sink to the bottom and machines skim off particles at the top at the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant in El Paso. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune Left: Sewage sludge from the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant is dewatered before being trucked to and disposed of in open fields. Right: Treated water leaves the plant to be reused for irrigation in El Paso. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune Other cities have reused wastewater for drinking, including Big Springs. However, they send it to a reservoir or river where it blends with surface water and then treat it again before it reaches taps. El Paso’s facility will be the first to send purified water straight into the distribution system — pipe to pipe. Gilbert Trejo, vice president of operations and technical services at El Paso Water, said the utility gained public support and eased the “ick factor” by educating residents on how the project maximizes the city’s existing water supply. Related Story March 13, 2025 “A lot of cities pay money to bring water to their community through reservoirs or investing in water importation. We owe it to our customers to develop our current water,” Trejo said. As Texas faces mounting water challenges, with lawmakers searching for solutions to an impending water crisis — including transporting water from water-rich areas to dry ones through pipelines — some water experts say El Paso's approach could serve as a blueprint for other cities, especially those in West Texas, where communities get little to no rain and have limited water resources to tap into. El Paso, a city of nearly 679,000 people, occupies a unique geographic and hydrological position. Nestled in the far western corner of Texas, it sits at the headwaters of the Rio Grande within the state, where the river first enters Texas after flowing through Colorado and New Mexico. Just across the U.S. border lies Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, a city of about 1.5 million, and to the northwest the state of New Mexico. El Paso’s water challenges are deeply interconnected with its neighbors, making water management a complex balancing act between three governments and multiple agencies. Like much of the state, El Paso relies on two main water sources: groundwater from its aquifers and surface water. The city’s two underground aquifers, the Hueco Bolson and Mesilla Bolson supply about 55% of the city’s water supply. While the Rio Grande, fed by snowmelt from Colorado and stored in New Mexico’s Elephant Butte Reservoir before being released downstream to farmers and cities, supplies about 40% (in a year without drought). Both supplies are shrinking and becoming increasingly unreliable. Latest in the series: Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis Loading content … Experts warn that this freshwater supply may only last a few more decades at current usage rates. Elephant Butte is at historic lows, sometimes holding just 6% of its capacity. The city’s surface water allotment, which last year was from March to October, is predicted to dwindle to about eight weeks this year. This has city leaders juggling as they determine how much water to suck out of its aquifers. While some border towns are just now beginning to face severe water constraints, El Paso has been grappling with that for decades. Unlike other parts of Texas, where massive reservoirs were built after the devastating drought of the 1950s to store rainwater for dry years, El Paso’s dry climate — where annual rainfall averages less than 9 inches — reservoirs have never been a viable option for El Paso. The Rio Grande supplies about 40% of El Paso’s water supply. Experts worry that freshwater supply will only last a few more decades at current usage rates. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune Shane Walker, director of the Water and the Environment Research Center at Texas Tech University said El Paso has become one of the most progressive water utilities in the country. “They're always thinking ahead. They're thinking 50 years or even 100 years down the road,” Walker said. “There are so many other water utilities that benefit from El Paso Water leadership because they're willing to to spend the extra work to figure things out the first time.” El Paso became a leader out of need Inside the utility’s water center, or TecH2O, there’s a timeline of the city’s water history. A black and white photo from 1892 shows the city’s first water supply plant — a small building and water pipe bursting with water flowing into a canal. In the early 1900s, the city relied almost entirely on groundwater from the Hueco and Mesilla Bolsons. As the population grew, city leaders recognized that groundwater alone wouldn’t be enough. In the 1920s, the Rio Grande Project was developed to manage and distribute river water each year for irrigation. Again, there was still not enough. El Paso’s pioneering efforts in water reuse began in the 1960s, when the city started using treated wastewater for irrigation. By the 1980s, the Fred Hervey Water Reclamation Plant was treating wastewater to drinking water standards using ozone disinfection — one of the earliest examples of advanced water reclamation in the country. That treated wastewater was used to replenish the aquifer. (Today it’s sold to El Paso Electric Company for cooling towers, and used to water a golf course, parks and a cemetery in the city.) In the 1990s, El Paso expanded its recycled water program with a purple pipe system that delivered treated wastewater for irrigation and industrial use. Within that same decade, the city also launched conservation rebate and incentive programs, including a toilet rebate program that offered a $50 rebate per toilet, up to two toilets per household, for customers who purchase water-efficient toilets that use 1.28 gallons per flush, as opposed to older toilets that use as much as six gallons per flush. “This time was a massive change in the way people thought about water and used water,” said Jennifer Barr, the utility's water conservation manager. As the city’s water challenges intensified, El Paso continued to diversify its water portfolio. In 2007, it opened the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant, a large inland desalination facility capable of producing at max capacity 27.5 million gallons of fresh water daily from brackish groundwater. The city has also embraced aquifer recharge, storing treated water underground for future use. It also reuses treated wastewater for irrigation or to replenish and maintain the Rio Bosque Wetlands, a 372-acre nature preserve located near the U.S.-Mexico border along the Rio Grande. Jennifer Barr, TecH20 Center’s water conservation manager, says the center hosts educational field trips for students where they learn about how to reduce their water consumption. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune Left: An exhibit depicting the water reclamation in El Paso at the TecH20 conference and learning center. Right: Painted Dunes Desert Golf Course receives water treated by the Fred Hervey Water Reclamation Plant. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune The city has also secured additional water rights from nearby Dell City. However, treating and transporting the water 90 miles to the city will be expensive. The water from the city would need to be desalinated. Since the 1990s, the utility has delivered more than 180,000 acre-feet of recycled water for irrigation and industrial use, helping to reduce the amount of groundwater pumped from aquifers. That’s enough to supply water to 1 million Texans for a year. Recycled water — 80,000 acre feet — has also been used to recharge the Hueco Bolson Aquifer. Meanwhile, the city's conservation programs have cut water use by 40% since the 1970s. Without these efforts, the utility estimates it would need to produce an additional 35,000 acre-feet of water each year to meet current demand. Although the city has a drought contingency plan in place to manage water shortages, it hasn’t implemented mandatory water restrictions since 2003 — when a severe river drought forced residents to limit outdoor watering to once a week. What can the state learn from these water leaders? Generations of El Pasoans have developed what Trejo, with the water utility, calls a “high water IQ,” shaped by constant drought and the unpredictable Rio Grande. Many grew up with the utility’s smiling mascot, Willie the Waterdrop, which some residents remember from when they were young. “The generation that grew up having to be very water conscious are now the adults in the room,” Trejo said, which he sees as an opportunity. This long-standing awareness helped El Paso gain public acceptance for its new toilet-to-tap project. More than a decade ago, El Paso Water launched an outreach campaign, training employees to deliver a clear, informative pitch. They put together a 30-minute presentation that walked residents through the city’s history of water reuse, explained why the next step was necessary, and broke down the advanced treatment process. Over the course of a year, the utility visited 30 community organizations, including neighborhood associations, rotary clubs, and news media outlets. The discussions weren’t one-on-one but held in group settings, where residents could ask questions and voice concerns. The timing helped. The region was just coming off the severe 2013 drought when El Paso had only six weeks of surface water left and had to ask residents to cut back. That fresh memory underscored the need to prepare for the future, according to the utility’s spokesperson. The Pure Water Center broke ground earlier this year and may be the nation's first direct potable use system or "toilet-to-tap" facility. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune The utility’s message was simple: “toilet-to-tap” was a logical next step. By the time the project moved forward, the groundwork had already been laid for community buy-in. An initial survey in 2013 showed 84% of residents approved the concept — proof, Trejo says, that years of public education paid off. While “toilet-to-tap” may sound unappealing, utility experts emphasize that advanced treatment removes pharmaceuticals, forever chemicals and other contaminants, with multiple safeguards built in. The water from the resident's sink, shower or toilet is so thoroughly purified that minerals are added back for taste. The state’s environmental regulator, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, authorized El Paso Water to begin construction of the advanced purification facility in October 2024. The utility broke ground earlier this year. As water supplies dwindle nationwide, other cities are watching. Two Arizona cities are already exploring similar systems. “When you're the first one to do something novel and unique, it's a pain in the butt,” Robert Mace, executive director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, said. “But once that first entity goes through and figures it all out, it becomes easier for everyone else.” El Paso isn’t the first Texas city to attempt direct potable reuse. Big Spring in West Texas became the first in the U.S. to treat wastewater for drinking in 2013, blending the purified water with raw water before sending it to a treatment plant. Wichita Falls implemented a temporary system during a severe drought in 2014. Several other Texas cities, including San Marcos, Buda, and Marble Falls, are looking to implement direct reuse projects as part of their water supply planning for the future, according to Mace. Trejo says this approach offers a smarter alternative to expensive new reservoirs or water pipelines. Gilbert Trejo, vice president of operations and technical services at El Paso Water, stands in front of 72 RO membranes at the Kay Bailey Desalination Plant in El Paso. The membranes clean salty water and make it drinkable. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune Left: El Paso Water's mascot, Willie the Waterdrop, stands behind a stack of applications offering cash to residents who replace their toilets with high efficiency models. Right: Jessiel Acosta tests the water hardness of the raw water feeding into the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant. Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune “Everything is about recycling — except water? If we’re investing in desalination, why not reuse what we already have?” he said. At a state level, Trejo said he is disappointed that water recycling is not more part of the water strategy discussions at the Capitol. Lawmakers are expected to pledge billions of dollars to save the state’s water supply. Most of the conversation has been around what water experts call “new water supply.” That includes desalination or the process of removing salt from seawater or brackish groundwater to make the water drinkable. Another strategy: constructing pipelines to transport water from the water-rich regions of Texas to arid, drought-stricken areas. Some worry that other water strategies, like what El Paso is doing, will get left out of the funding. “Communities will need to have funding,” Trejo said. “If the state is not going to include water recycling in the discussion, it will affect us greatly.” The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation awarded El Paso $3.5 million in 2019 for the facility’s design. It later committed an additional $20 million in 2022 to support construction. The total project cost is currently estimated at $295 million. The utility says it continues to pursue additional state and federal funding. According to recommendations in the state water plan, Texas could rely on direct potable reuse for 62,000 acre-feet per year by 2070 — enough to supply 372,000 people annually. The money is important. But it won’t solve every crisis. El Paso has approached water management with preparation rather than panic. That steady, forward-looking mindset has helped build the trust with the public needed to take bold steps driven by vision, not desperation. Trejo’s advice to other utilities: Start preparing now. Disclosure: El Paso Electric Company and Texas Tech University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas’ breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

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