For Immediate Release – September 4, 2008

AUSTIN - The Austin Water Utility's (AWU) Center for Environmental Research (CER) is one of four partners that has been awarded a 3-year, $400,000 federal grant to conduct research on biosolids at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant, located at 2210 South FM 973 in East Austin.

The grant, titled "Biosolids Application: Quantifying and Modeling Impacts on Ecosystem Services across Urban, Agricultural, and Wildlife Interfaces," was awarded to the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in Temple, Texas, in late August. It was awarded through the USDA's National Research Initiative Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.

The grant will allow collaborative research on biosolids between the USDA-ARS Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory in Temple, Texas; the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Environmental Contaminants Laboratory in San Marcos, Texas; the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water Quality Assessment Laboratory in Denver, Colorado; and the Austin Water Utility's Center for Environmental Research (AWU-CER).

This multi-institutional research will utilize the Austin Water Utility's Experimental Exemption for biosolids research, which was granted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Researchers will examine the effects of biosolids land application on soil biology, nutrient uptake and mobility, and persistence and transport of trace contaminants.

"We are so happy to receive this grant and be a partner in this research," said Kevin Anderson, coordinator of the Center for Environmental Research. "The Hornsby Bend facility has helped set the standard for recycling biosolids, and this grant will allow us to work with partners who share our interest in environmental protection and sustainability."

Jody Slagle, Biosolids Reuse Manager at Hornsby Bend added, "This program will allow us to do innovative research far beyond current regulatory requirements."

The AWU Center for Environmental Research is home to an existing partnership between the University of Texas, Texas A&M University and the Austin Water Utility. It promotes urban ecology and sustainability through community outreach, education and research and is located at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant in East Austin. For more information, you may visit http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/cer2.htm.

The Austin Water Utility serves more than 850,000 customers and draws from the Colorado River into three water treatment plants that have a rated combined maximum capacity of 300 million gallons per day. AWU goes above and beyond the Environmental Protection Agency's protocols for safe drinking water, and supplies some of the nation's cleanest water. AWU was recently ranked #2 in the nation for having the cleanest tap water according to a study by Forbes.com.

Media Contact:
Sarah Fusco, Public Affairs Office
Email to: Sarah.Fusco@ci.austin.tx.us
City of Austin Water Utility
(512) 972-0150; pgr.(512) 802-8956