City of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, USA – Under construction river augmentation at Caney River
Despite being regarded as a surface water-rich area, Bartlesville experienced a drought in 2001-02 that impacted the City’s main water supply source, Hulah Lake, reducing the amount of water available in that lake to 17%. With long-term sustainability in mind, the City of Bartlesville began exploring options to increase their water supply. In 2012, the state of Oklahoma passed the “Water for 2060” law, the goal of which is to consume no more fresh water in the year 2060 than was consumed state-wide in the year 2012, while continuing to grow the population and economy of Oklahoma.
This law instructed the state’s environmental agency, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, to develop regulations for reuse. While water reuse for drinking water is still in its infancy in Oklahoma, in 2015, the Department developed a regulatory framework to encourage and enable reuse, and these regulations continue to evolve.
The City started investigating the feasibility of water reuse in 2016. Detailed studies completed in 2017 and 2018 confirmed its feasibility and treatment. The City’s reuse plans will pump treated wastewater approximately 4 miles to discharge into the Caney River, which is approximately 7 miles upstream of the City’s raw water intake structure located on the river. The City will be able to augment the flow of the Caney River by 4 million gallons (15 million litres) per day during periods of drought, and will extend the City’s water supply sources by 30 years. Water reuse is not impacted by drought or other environmental factors, which are a common occurrence in Oklahoma, and improves the City’s water supply resiliency and reliability.
Since 2017, the City has been communicating with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality about the water reuse application and the results of the various studies. Based on these results, the Department has permitted the construction of the Caney River reuse pipeline and pump station, but conditioned this approval on further study and improvements to the wastewater treatment plant, which were already in the planning stages. The project received grants through the Bureau of Reclamation to meet some of the costs.
How the project works
The system will require the construction of a pump station at the wastewater treatment plant and an underground pipeline transporting the water to the Caney River just south of the County Road West 1500 bridge. This will allow the City to utilise treated wastewater to augment the yield of the Caney River, which serves as one of the City’s main water sources. Treated wastewater will be pumped upstream of the Caney River water intake and allowed to blend with existing river water, then sent to the water treatment plant for further treatment and, from there, to water customers. The intent of the reuse system is to serve as a back up water supply in case a severe drought or other environmental factor significantly impacts the City’s water supply surface water sources. While reuse does not solve all the City’s long term water supply needs, it is a key component to address the City’s water supply goals for the next 100 years.
The City of Bartlesville won two awards for the project – the Environmental Protection Agency’s prestigious George F. Ames PICES Award for Excellence in Problem Solving, and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board’s Water for 2060 Award.
Related resources
City of Bartlesville Water FAQ
Caney River pump station to start work soon