Recycled Water

Yes.  Traditional wastewater discharge has higher concentrations of pollutants than highly treated Recycled Water.  When higher-quality water is discharged to the environment, the pollutant loadings to groundwater basins, oceans, rivers, streams, and other water bodies are decreased.  Recycled water tends to have higher levels of nutrients and/or nitrogen which are of beneficial use for landscape irrigation.  As a result, Recycled Water use can also reduce the need to apply synthetic fertilizers in some cases.

In an industrial use context, Recycling Water prevents pollution.  Machines and equipment that use water, often produce wastewater that carry pollutants.  By Recycling wastewater, many of these pollutants can be removed before the water is introduced to the environment.

Yes.  By using Recycled Water to irrigate parks, schools, greenbelts (common areas),  commercial properties and golf courses, the Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District (District) reduces the need to purchase imported water for the replenishment of the Beaumont Basin groundwater aquifer.  Using Recycled Water also reduces electrical, treatment, sampling, laboratory analysis, and distribution costs.  These savings help District water rates remain as low as possible for our customers.

Yes.  Using Recycled Water to irrigate parks, green belts (common areas), schools, commercial properties, and golf courses, conserves potable drinking water for domestic use.

Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District (District) relies on an underground aquifer called the Beaumont Basin to supply Domestic Potable Water to our customers.  Domestic water is pumped out of the  Beaumont Basin and/or Edgar Canyon via groundwater wells.  Portions of this water supply are then boosted to storage tanks where the District can then provide pressurized water to the Domestic water system.  Both groundwater wells and booster pumps use a significant amount of electricity at a cost to our rate payers.  There is also treatment, distribution, sampling, and laboratory analysis of Domestic water supplies that incur additional costs. The use of Recycled Water should take approximately 50% of the energy necessary to pump equivalent groundwater supply.

To replenish the Beaumont Basin aquifer, the District purchases imported water that is subsequently delivered to our Noble Creek Recharge Facility Phase I and Phase II, located east of Beaumont Ave. and North of Brookside Ave.  The ponds at the Noble Creek Recharge Facility provide an opportunity to replenish the Beaumont Basin with imported and local surface water.  This water can then be naturally filtered by the soil as it travels down to the Beaumont Basin where high quality water is stored for future use.

Maximizing the use of local resources, like Recycled Water, reduces the District’s dependence on  imported water supplies by reducing the amount of imported water needed for replenishment of the Beaumont Basin.  Use of Recycled Water should also reduce the electrical, treatment, distribution, sampling, and laboratory analysis cost associated with the delivery of Domestic water.

Yes.  However, the environmental effects of using Recycled Water are generally positive.  In addition to providing a dependable, locally-controlled water source, recycling water provides significant environmental benefits.  Recycled Water is highly-treated wastewater that does not pose a threat to plant or wildlife.  In fact, a certain portion of historical wastewater effluent is maintained to support existing ecosystems.  This highly treated,  Recycled Water provides ecosystems with a higher quality of water than traditional wastewater discharges. After ecosystem discharge requirements are met, additional water supplies are then used for Recycled Water irrigation and industrial use efforts.  The City of Beaumont’s new Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) will provide Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtering to demineralize the water to ensure the groundwater basins do not become overly impacted by the use of Recycled Water.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency states “In addition to providing a dependable, locally-controlled water supply, water recycling provides tremendous environmental benefits. By providing an additional source of water, water recycling can help us find ways to decrease the diversion of water from sensitive ecosystems. Other benefits include decreasing wastewater discharges and reducing and preventing pollution. Recycled water can also be used to create or enhance wetlands and riparian habitats.” https://www3.epa.gov/region9/water/recycling/pdf/brochure.pdf

In an industrial use context, Recycling Water prevents pollution.  Machines and equipment that use water often produce wastewater that carry pollutants.  By Recycling wastewater, many of these pollutants can be removed before the water is reintroduced to the environment.

Recycled Water is purposed for the irrigation of parks, schools, greenbelts (common areas), commercial properties and golf courses.  The Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District (District) has a significant network of non-potable mains and services within the City of Beaumont.  However, the non-potable water system is limited and designed to provide water to large irrigation customers.  This source of supply will reduce the need to pump groundwater for irrigation efforts.

In some cases Yes.  However, Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District (District) DOES NOT use recycled water as a source of domestic drinking water. Some Cities and Water agencies have the ability, and have been permitted by the Department of Water Resources, or regulatory agency having jurisdiction, for what is called direct potable reuse. This is where highly treated Recycled Water is introduced to the drinking water system. This highly treated water is “pure water”, tested and declared safe by the Department of Water Resources, or regulatory agency having jurisdiction, for human consumption. The District ONLY plans at this time, to serve non-potable water sources, such as Recycled Water, for the purpose of landscape irrigation.  While safe for irrigation use, Recycled Water is NOT (nor proposed to be) used for human consumption within the District’s service area.

Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District (District) relies, for the most part, on an underground aquifer called the Beaumont Basin to supply Domestic Potable Water to our customers.  The use of Recycled Water is critical for sustainable management of the Beaumont Basin aquifer and long term regional water supplies.  Recycled Water is a virtually drought proof source of local water supply and provides the District an opportunity to conserve groundwater supplies by reducing groundwater pumping necessary to supply the irrigation activities at parks, green belts (common areas), schools, commercial properties and golf courses. By simply using Recycled Water for these irrigation activities the District will provide for significant conservation of Domestic Water supplies.

The use of renewable energy sources, as well as, the responsible stewardship of natural resources is important for the sustainability of future generations. Using Recycled Water to irrigate parks,  green belts (common areas), schools, commercial properties and golf courses, conserves potable drinking water for domestic use.  Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District (District) relies, for the most part, on an underground aquifer called the Beaumont Basin to supply Domestic Potable Water to our customers.  To replenish the Beaumont Basin aquifer, the District purchases imported water that is subsequently delivered to our Noble Creek Recharge Facility Phase I and Phase II, located east of Beaumont Ave. and North of Brookside Ave.  The ponds at the Noble Creek Recharge Facility provide an opportunity to replenish the Beaumont Basin with imported and local surface water.  This water can then be naturally filtered by the soil as it travels down to the Beaumont Basin where high quality water is stored for future use.  Maximizing the use of local resources, like Recycled Water, reduces the District’s dependence on imported water supplies by reducing the amount of water needed to replenish the Beaumont Basin aquifer.

Water is a precious resource and the Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District (District) works tirelessly to manage local water sources in a responsible manner.  The District currently operates a non-potable water system that has the ability to deliver filtered surface water, untreated ground water, domestic drinking water and recycled water as a blended source to many of our customers, for landscape irrigation use.  Recycled Water is a valuable addition to the Districts non-potable water supply portfolio and is critical for sustainable management of our long-term water supplies.  Because Recycled Water is highly treated wastewater, it is a source of supply that is not directly impacted by drought conditions.  Using Recycled Water to irrigate parks,  green belts (common areas), schools, commercial properties and golf courses, conserves potable drinking water for domestic use.  Maximizing the use of local resources, like Recycled Water, reduces the District’s dependence on imported water supplies.

The physical  difference between a “potable” water system and a “non-potable” or “Recycled Water” system is the color/marking of piping, fixtures, and appurtenances.  Potable water systems do not have a specific color or marking for piping.  Potable water systems can range in color from black to blue or from natural metal/plastic colors to a variety of wraps.  On the other hand, Recycled Water has very specific color and marking requirements.  Recycled Water pipes, fixtures, sprinkler heads, valves, mains, services, and appurtenances, by regulation, must be purple in color and/or clearly marked “Recycled/Reclaimed Water, Do Not Drink”.  Marking must be on a purple background with black lettering.  The coloring/marking of Recycled Water helps to assure that Potable and Non-Potable/Recycled systems are not interconnected by accident.

Initial shut down pressure tests are conducted at every Recycled Water Use Area with annual and periodic follow up shut down tests, to confirm the physical separation of Potable and Non-Potable/Recycled Water systems.  In addition to color/marking, Recycled Water use areas must be clearly identified with adequate signage stating “Recycled Water – Do Not Drink” in both Spanish and English and shall include the universal symbol for “Do not drink”.