At its Oct. 18 meeting, San Marcos City Council addressed a possible direction for the increased installation and use of “purple pipe,” which is reclaimed wastewater from a plant to be utilized both in residential and industrial areas.
Councilmembers discussed that purple pipe can be increased through dedicated Capital Improvement Plan projects or development code updates for certain size developments. The goal of this is to help in water conservation efforts and overall sustainability. This plan is still in progress of planning. The water would not be potable but can be used for things like irrigation and flushing water.
Councilmember Maxfield Baker said conversations at the work session were effective in finding out where the council wants to take the project. 
“It seems like something that our community is ready for and is a proactive sustainability measure to start to plan for,” Baker said. “These are the kind of projects that take years to plan out, and so I’m glad we’re getting started today”.
Mayor Jane Hughson addressed how she would like to see the denotation of where purple pipes are on maps when discussing new projects with developers.
“Just to let developers know we have purple pies, and we would like to make use of it,” Hughson said. “The way we get towards future water, we don’t use as much fresh potable water and more reusable water. This is water coming from our wastewater plant, and it’s pretty darn clean.”
The implementation of this pipe can be an incentive for industrial users, as they can usually bear the cost of extending those lines to their development versus the city. Hughson wants to see these pipes in large residential areas.
“I would love to see a housing development that is basically double pipped, where the purple pipe is for the yard and maybe flushing, then you’ve got regular water for the household,” Hughson said. “I would love to see someone come in and set a good example.”
There have been purple pipes put in for downtown improvements. South CM Allen Parkway is prepared and ready to irrigate with the purple pipe.
Along with the discussion of purple pipes, the council also addressed naming selected alleys for movies filmed primarily in San Marcos like Boyhood Alley.
The council discussed the possible initiate of naming selected alleys for movies filmed primarily in San Marcos, like “The Getaway.” Mayor Hughson said this initiative would be for new alleyways that have not been named. It would not be for renaming alleys and streets. 
“I do think another aspect is to encourage the film industry to go downtown and use our alleyways. It might be a way to incentivize them, ‘if you’re film is good enough we’ll name a street or alley after you,’” Councilmember Mark Gleason said.
The San Marcos City Council meets at 6 p.m. every first and third Tuesday of each month. For more information, visit the City Council website.