El Paso water plant to convert desalination wastewater into fresh drinking water

El Paso, Texas — Enviro Water Minerals Company (EWM) awarded Veolia a 10-year operations and maintenance agreement to manage its new commercial water plant in El Paso to enhance the city's supply of drinking water.  EWM has broken ground on the new water production and chemical manufacturing facility located next to the city's Kay Bailey Hutchison (KBH) Desalination Plant, the world's largest inland desalination plant. 

This zero-discharge wastewater facility will be equipped with EWM's technology to recover minerals and desalinated waste brine discharged from brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO). The innovative plant will take the waste brine concentrate from the KBH Desalination Plant, extract and transform salts and minerals into commercial products, and produce more than 2 million gallons of drinkable water a day for the region.

Hubble Hausman, CEO of EWM, stated "Waste brine disposal has long been the Achilles' heel of inland desalination facilities. Our El Paso project will demonstrate that it is possible to produce multiple marketable chemical and mineral products from the waste brine while increasing the recovery of potable water and eliminating waste."

Steve Hopper, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Veolia North America's Industrial Business, said, "As the global leader in desalination from both a technology and operational perspective, Veolia brings considerable expertise to the partnership. We're backing our experience with an operational performance guarantee that will play a critical role in the project's success.  Our mission of Resourcing the World is built around the idea of developing, preserving and replenishing resources, so we're excited to be part of this project to provide El Paso with additional water sources while also preserving the environment through sustainable solutions and resource recovery technologies." 

The EWM plant will create up to 2 million gallons per day of additional drinking water from the waste and help extend the life of the Hueco Bolson Aquifer for future generations. The project is a great example of cities and industry working together to benefit communities and the environment. Scheduled to begin operations in early 2017, the plant is estimated to have an economic impact of about $7.7 million in El Paso and create local jobs.