Comprehensive Health Effects Testing Program for Denver's Potable Water Reuse Demonstration Project

The Comprehensive Health Effects Testing Program for the Denver Water Department's Potable Water Reuse Demonstration Project is designed to evaluate the relative health effects of highly treated reclaimed water derived from secondary wastewater compared to Denver's present high-quality drinking water. The 1 million gallon per day (1 mgd) demonstration plant provides water to be evaluated in the studies treating unchlorinated secondary treated wastewater with the following additional processes: high pH lime clarification, recarbonation, filtration, ultraviolet irradiation, activated carbon adsorption, reverse osmosis, air stripping, ozonation, and chloramination. An additional sample is obtained from the identical treatment process substituting ultrafiltration for reverse osmosis. The toxicology tests to evaluate the possible long-term health effects are chronic toxicity and oncogenicity studies in Fischer 344 rats and B6C3F1 mice and reproductive/teratology in Sprague-Dawley rats. The results of these evaluations will be correlated with microbiological, chemical, and physical test results to establish the relative quality of reclaimed water compared to all established health standards as well as Denver's pristine drinking water.