$289M Reno Water Plant Impact

Reno’s water project is not a new citywide tap-water plant that suddenly changes what comes out of household faucets this week. The facility at the center of the recent attention is the OneWater Nevada Advanced Purified Water Facility at American Flat, a joint project of the City of Reno and Truckee Meadows Water Authority, designed to take highly treated effluent from the Reno-Stead Water Reclamation Facility and purify it to meet or exceed state and federal drinking-water standards. The City of Reno says the water will be recharged into the groundwater aquifer at American Flat and stored for initial use in agricultural irrigation, with any future potable use coming only after additional testing and evaluation. ### Is this water going straight into Reno kitchen taps now? The City of Reno says no. On its project page, the city says the resulting Category A+ advanced purified water will be stored in the groundwater aquifer at American Flat for initial agricultural irrigation use, and that future use to enhance the regional potable supply would come only after “further extensive testing and evaluation.” (reno.gov) That distinction matters because Truckee Meadows Water Authority’s current drinking-water system still relies mainly on the Truckee River and more than 90 wells in deep aquifers across its service area. TMWA says two existing treatment plants — Chalk Bluff in northwest Reno and Glendale in Sparks — serve customers now, and that treated water is monitored through more than 1,000 laboratory tests each month on over 180 samples from across the distribution system. (reno.gov) ### What is the American Flat facility supposed to do? The OneWater Nevada project is built around water reuse. Reno says the facility will take recycled water from the Reno-Stead Water Reclamation Facility and run it through advanced purification, while the city’s June 13, 2024 news release lists ozonation, biological carbon filtration and ultraviolet disinfection among the treatment steps. (tmwa.com) The EPA said on October 24, 2024 that the completed facility is intended to produce high-quality drinking water to help meet regional needs. The agency described the project as part of a broader effort to support long-term resilience and sustainability in the region’s water resources. ### Where did the $289 million figure come from? (reno.gov) Federal agencies and local partners have described the project in funding pieces rather than in a single official project total on the sources reviewed here. The EPA said in October 2024 that the project received $128 million in EPA-backed funding, including $55 million through Nevada’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, $70 million through the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $3 million in congressionally directed spending. (epa.gov) The city and TMWA separately announced a $30 million Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART grant in June 2024. The public materials reviewed for this story did not show an official Reno or TMWA page stating that the facility had opened or that $289 million was the final all-in project cost. Reno’s project page, as recently crawled, still said the team was in design with an expectation of breaking ground in spring 2025 and that construction would last about two and a half years, followed by several years of testing, groundwater injection, irrigation use and water-quality monitoring. (epa.gov) ### Could residents notice any change in taste or reliability soon? Truckee Meadows Water Authority says its current water already meets all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and Washoe County Health District standards, and in many cases performs better than required standards. TMWA also says most local drinking water comes from the Truckee River, with the remainder from groundwater wells, which means day-to-day taste can vary with source water and seasonal operations even without the new purification project entering the potable system. (reno.gov) TMWA’s existing system serves more than 440,000 residents, according to its website. The utility says it has spent more than $200 million over the past decade on repairing and rehabilitating aging infrastructure, part of a broader effort to maintain reliability in the current network while longer-term supply projects move forward. ### What should Reno residents watch next? The next concrete milestone is construction progress and permitting at American Flat. (tmwa.com) Reno’s project page says construction was expected to begin in spring 2025 and last roughly two and a half years, followed by years of monitoring and testing before any broader potable role. For residents trying to track what affects household water now, the more immediate sources remain Truckee Meadows Water Authority’s water-quality materials and system updates. (tmwa.com) For the American Flat project itself, the City of Reno and TMWA have said the next steps are construction, aquifer recharge, irrigation use and continued water-quality monitoring before any expansion into the regional drinking-water supply. (reno.gov)