What Do You Know About Recycled Water?

Recycled water is highly treated wastewater that has been filtered to remove solids and other impurities as well as disinfected by a water treatment plant. It comes from various sources such as domestic sewage, industrial wastewater and stormwater runoff. The quality of recycled water depends upon the source water and the treatment level. Compared to potable drinking water, recycled water often contains more total dissolved salts and nutrients which currently limits its use to irrigate sustainable landscape or to recharge groundwater aquifers.

1. Which Types of Water Can Be Recycled?

The sources of recycled water are split into two main types: blackwater and greywater.

Blackwater includes: mainly sewage, as well as kitchen water, industrial wastewater, or other “high organic”water sources.

Greywater includes: water from sinks, clothes washing, shower drains, etc.

Rainwater can also be collected and used to water plants, wash clothes, or flush toilets without any treatment necessary.

2. How is Recycled Water Treated?

Recycled water is highly regulated by the state, and approved uses differ depending on the treatment level.

- Primary treatment. This is the stage where large solids are removed.

- Secondary treatment. At this stage, it removes approximately 90% to 95% of the remaining solids.

-Tertiary treatment. In traditional tertiary treatment, filtration removes any remaining solids. The water is treated with a disinfectant, such as chlorine, to destroy bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. A more refined tertiary treatment process uses a combination of membrane bioreactor filtration and ultraviolet light disinfection. This new water treatment technology produces a more purified water and reduces the need for traditional disinfection chemicals like chlorine.

-Advanced tertiary treatment. This process uses filtration or reverse osmosis to duplicate and accelerate nature’s own purifying system. This advanced water treatment produces recycled water so pure that it can be used for groundwater recharge, where it ultimately works its way back into the drinking water cycle.

3. Where is Recycled Water Used?

Santa Rosa has been using recycled water for over 40 years. As one of the largest recycled water systems in the world, about 98% of the City’s tertiary-treated recycled water is used to irrigate approximately 6,400 acres of agricultural lands and public and private urban landscaping.

4. Benefits of Using Recycled Water

-Helps maintain long-term sustainability.

-Increases water supply reliability.

-Is a drought-proof source of water.

-Reduces dependence on costly imported water.

Recycled water is widely used and accepted as an environmentally responsible way to conserve scarce and expensive water supplies. It is safe and suitable for uses such as landscape irrigation and some industrial processes.

Nicoler is committed to researching the use of ozone in drinking water treatment. We can provide you with ozone water filters and industrial water treatment systems to help you achieve faster and more effective disinfection.