In California, the San Diego City Council recently approved a study to evaluate recycled water opportunities, launching a Master Plan Update. The objectives, developed with local environmental groups, include evaluation of all aspects of water reuse as well as information concerning potential impacts of the wastewater stream on water quality and public health.
San Diego’s municipal golf course, Torrey Pines, takes about 400,000 gallons of reclaimed water daily for landscaping purposes. The San Diego campus of the University of California uses around 300,000 gallons of reclaimed wastewater a day to satisfy 40% of its irrigation needs.
Meanwhile, the city of Corona, CA. began pipeline construction on its recycled water system expected to be completed in mid-2005. The system will include reservoirs, two pump stations, and about 30 miles of underground pipeline to carry recycled water from the wastewater treatment plant to irrigation connections. Recycled water will be used to irrigate landscaping at schools, parks, churches, freeway medians and homeowners’ associations-governed landscaped areas reports Water Reuse News.
In Atlanta, Georgia, 24 wastewater treatment facilities generate reclaimed water to irrigate golf courses. The latest system to come online is in Denver, Colorado, where 30 million gallons of water a day will be pumped to the Denver Zoo, Xcel Energy, municipal parks, school playgrounds and golf courses.
Denver Water estimates it will save enough water to supply 35,000 households using reclaimed water with its new $75 million plant. Instead of pumping the treated water into the South Platte River, it will be used for irrigation and landscaping.
All in all, 1500 utilities in the U.S. have water recycling programs. “A large portion of our water in Colorado and the Southwest is used for irrigation,” points out Don Wojcik, water policy analyst for Western Resource Advocates in Boulder. “This is one really good way to address that without looking first at expensive, environmentally damaging solutions like reservoirs … The biggest obstacle is the fact that it basically comes from a sewer line.”
FROM Biocycle, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner
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