What is Recycled Water?

“Recycle” defined: verb, convert (waste) into reusable material.

When you think of recycling, you probably think of aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic or paper products like newspaper and cardboard.  However, WATER can also be recycled and subsequently reused as a sustainable local source.

Recycled Water is highly treated wastewater that has undergone extensive filtration, disinfection and treatment processes to remove solids, impurities, and harmful pathogens.  Generally, Recycled Water refers to highly treated domestic Wastewater, but other sources like storm water runoff and industrial waste could be treated for reuse in a similar way.  The source water and treatment process determine the quality of Recycled Water.  When compared to domestic drinking water in any particular region, Recycled Water tends to have higher levels of Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) and higher levels of nutrients than the Domestic water used in the same area.  This limits the use of Recycled Water to landscape irrigation, industrial non-potable use and in some areas, for the recharge of groundwater aquifers.