By Anna Herod

The city of Kyle has reached an out-of-court settlement with wastewater provider Aqua Texas after officials sued in 2013 following complaints of the company failing to adequately maintain Kyle’s treatment plant. 

As a result of the settlement, an agreement between the two parties could pave the way for a major water reuse project.  

The agreement consists of two parts, which concerns the initiation of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR). 

According to City Manager Scott Sellers, the concept revolves around taking treated effluent from the treatment plant and pumping it into the aquifer, where it can be stored. At a later date, Sellers said Kyle can “pull water from the aquifer, clean it – put it through the water treatment plant – and then sell it.” 

He said water reuse projects are of particular interest in Texas after the state has experienced a drought over several years. While there are ASR projects in Texas, Sellers said this “would be one of the first of its kind” in Central Texas to take the reverse osmosis process to purify effluent to inject into the aquifer. 

“The zone of the aquifer is the brackish zone, which is basically the salt water zone,” Sellers said. “The addition of effluent will actually help to dilute some of the salt water and make it more available or make it more ready for a potable reuse.”

The agreement was the byproduct of Aqua and Kyle negotiating to resolve several items of litigation. Those include the city’s 2013 lawsuit against Aqua following a November 2012 spill of partially treated sewage into Plum Creek. It also included a breach of contract suit filed by Aqua in 2011, which was dismissed. 

Sellers said Aqua had been pursuing a payment estimated, at principle, at $1.3 million when the settlement was reached. The city manager said the solution was found after several unsuccessful negotiations. 

“This is an item that has long been awaited,” Sellers said. “And when I informed legal counsel I was met with a hug. I’m not expecting a hug tonight, but it really is a big deal that we are able to settle this without going through full litigation.”

Sellers said the first portion of the agreement allows Aqua five years to prove up the technology for the project and the permitting process legislatively. 

“Because this technology is so new, and the way that Aqua is planning to do it with the city of Kyle as a partner, there are permits at the state level, at local levels to obtain,” Sellers said. “There is legislation that needs to be changed. So it will be a long process, a long and difficult process to obtain all the necessary permits, to make this project feasible.”

If Aqua obtains the necessary permits in the first five years, the second part will go into action. The second part involves Aqua becoming a customer of Kyle, where it purchases effluent “at a predetermined rate,” then inject it into the aquifer. 

The agreement grants Aqua an easement so the company can access its equipment on the city’s property, and clarifies what type of structure they can erect on the site. Additionally, the company has to give the city back a portion of the reject water from the process. 

Sellers said the city is agreeing to “take up to 100 gallons per minute of reverse osmosis reject water.” 

If Aqua is unable to obtain the necessary permits for the project, the city will still be free of the lawsuit and any billing dispute.  

“[B]oth parties agree to walk away from any billing dispute, which leaves a significant amount of money that the city of Kyle can then put toward its wastewater treatment plant expansion, which will further assist in the ASR project with Aqua,” Sellers said.