Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Olympia City Council has approved entering into an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) with LOTT Clean Water Alliance to support a groundbreaking demonstration project that aims to test whether reclaimed wastewater can be safely treated to potable standards.
Under the agreement, Olympia will contribute $50,000 from its Drinking Water Capital Fund to LOTT’s Class A+ Reclaimed Water Demonstration Pilot Project.
LOTT will lead, administer and operate the pilot project in coordination with the Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Department of Ecology, local regulatory agencies and other interested parties.
Lacey, Tumwater and Thurston County are also contributing comparable amounts under separate agreements.
“This is water that was in our wastewater system that is treated to drinkable standards,” City Council member Dani Madrone explained at a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
She said it would be the first demonstration project in the state of Washington.
According to Madrone, the demonstration project would specifically focus on testing two treatment technologies — reverse osmosis and granular activated carbon.
“There is a limited amount of water, and we are a growing community. There is a lot of demand on water for stream flows, for salmon, for agriculture, for uses in our community, like flushing toilets, and for drinking,” Madrone said.
Madrone said while Puget Sound is not currently experiencing a critical water shortage, preparing for it is crucial.
“Let’s work on this before it is an emergency. We don’t have new sources of water coming in. These are the new sources of water that we can have available to us," she said.
In addition to testing treatment technologies, the project includes a public outreach component to address community concerns, which Madrone referred to as the “ick” factor around potable reuse.
As part of that outreach, LOTT is working with South Puget Sound Community College’s brewing program to use small amounts of Class A+ water in beer making.
2 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
BobJacobs
I don't understand the stated purpose of this project -- "to test whether reclaimed wastewater can be safely treated to potable standards. "
Of course it can. It is being done in a number of places.
Bob Jacobs
Saturday, October 4, 2025 Report this
PatMer
Here's a link to a good, informative article by the CDC on using reclaimed wastewater for potable uses.
https://www.cdc.gov/drinking-water/about/recycled-water-for-drinking-an-overview.html
Saturday, October 4, 2025 Report this