A resort community in the mountains of south-central New Mexico has faced severe water
shortages for several years. After a fruitless search for new sources of water, the village has
decided to pursue indirect potable reuse of wastewater to supplement the groundwater supply.
The wastewater plant will be retrofitted with membrane bioreactor technology, followed by
reverse osmosis. The wastewater plant effluent will be stored in a reservoir to provide an
environmental barrier, then mixed with the existing groundwater supply and treated in a water
treatment plant using ultrafiltration and granular activated carbon. The process train was
selected to provide redundancy for protecting public health, encourage acceptance by the public,
and facilitate regulatory approval. Regulatory issues were challenging because this project is the
first planned indirect reuse of wastewater for drinking water in the state of New Mexico. Includes 6 references, table, figure.