Brazos Research Wetland: An Evaluation of an Innnovative Constructed Wetland Designed to Attenuate Endocrine Disrupting Compounds from Reclaimed Wastewater

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Understanding and optimizing the use of constructed wetlands as an environmental buffer for the purposes of potable reuse was identified in the 2011 Texas Water Reuse Research Agenda as among the most pressing research needs for water reuse in Texas. A 2012 National Academy of Sciences report made a similar finding on a national scale. Concerns exist over the potential for endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) to adversely affect human health or ecosystems when treated wastewater is discharged into an environmental buffer and reused to help augment drinking water supplies. The Brazos Research Wetland will investigate whether an innovative constructed wetland design can attenuate or remove EDCs that may exist in treated wastewater effluent that will be recycled through an environmental buffer and used to augment drinking water supplies. The design of this wetland is innovative because of the unique combination and sequence of engineered surface and subsurface treatment zones, as well as passive aeration units that incorporate flowing cascades and turbulent stream channels. The Brazos Research Wetland is being constructed by the City of Waco, Texas (Waco) through local resources and through grant funding through the Texas Water Development Board. In 2014, Waco partnered with Reclamation, the United States Geological Survey, and Baylor University, to develop a peer-reviewed Hydrologic, Chemical, and Biological Monitoring Plan. This Plan established the monitoring protocols necessary to collect the performance data required to determine how well the research wetland meets the research objective of attenuating EDCs and endocrine disruption effects. Specifically outlined in the monitoring plan are tasks that require local resources and expertise that will be provided by Waco and Baylor University. This local support consists of daily, weekly, and monthly monitoring activities necessary to collect the performance data required. Partial funding for the monitoring would be provided through Reclamation’s Science and Technology Program, and combined with in-kind support from each entity

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