What Happens in Texas Doesn't Stay in Texas: How a Small-Town Texas DPR Study Inspired an International Award-Winning Carbon-Based Direct Potable Reuse Demonstration (in Florida)

The City of Dripping Springs is located in Hays County, Texas, twenty-five miles southwest of the State capital, Austin. The Austin metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the nation (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014a). In addition, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked Hays County as the 14th fastest growing county in the U.S with a population increase of twelve percent between 2010 and 2013 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014b). Like much of Texas over the past several years, the City has experienced drought conditions ranging from moderate to severe (U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center, 2015). Drought conditions, along with an increase in population, have led to strain on the City’s water supplies. Due to this confluence of factors, the City of Dripping Springs, Texas commissioned a feasibility study for direct potable reuse (DPR) in 2014, which was completed in 2015.