In a basic sense, Recycled Water is treated effluent that is treated to a higher degree (depending on the location), instead of being discharged into a natural body of water, and used for a broad range of practical purposes.
The treated effluent from waste water treatment facilities is typically discharged directly into a stream, river, or other natural body of water. This recharges the water supply and promotes the natural decomposition of materials in the water that standard treatment practices would not normally be able to remove.
But due to increasing population and increasing demand for reliable fresh water sources, many areas around the world are now using reclaimed water to decrease potable water demands.
In the United States, many locations use reclaimed water only for non-potable uses, such as irrigation and fire fighting. Cities with arid climates, high populations, and close proximity to oceanic saltwater intrusion have been the most proactive in their usage of reclaimed water........
History
Los Angeles County's sanitation districts have provided treated wastewater for landscape irrigation in parks and golf courses since 1929.
The first Recycled Water facility in California was built at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in 1932.
Benefits
The costs involved with Recycled Water typically exceed those of standard potable water in most regions of the world, where a fresh water supply is plentiful. However, reclaimed water is usually sold to citizens at a cheaper rate to encourage its use.
Using Recycled Water for non-potable use saves potable water for drinking, since less potable water will be used for non-potable uses.
Suitable for drinking?
In many locations, Recycled Water is not directly mixed with potable (drinking) water for several reasons:
Humans may face severe psychological barriers against drinking Recycled Water, since it was formerly sewage. This may lead to long term mental problems.
Small amounts of pathogens and pharmaceutical chemicals may be able to pass through the filtering process, potentially causing danger to humans.
Many utilities providing Recycled Water for nonpotable uses do not treat the water to drinking water standards.
Because of this, some regulatory agencies ban people from drinking, bathing in or filling swimming pools with Recycled Water.
They also warn those who use Recycled Water for irrigation to place a sign on their property warning people not to drink from the irrigation system, and to not use it directly on fruits or vegetables.
Some municipalities are now investigating either potable or Indirect Potable Use (IPU) of Recycled Water. For example, reclaimed water may be pumped into reservoirs where it will mix with (and be diluted by) rainwater. This mixture of rainwater and Recycled Water could then be treated again, and finally used as drinking water.
This technique may also be referred to as groundwater recharging or reservoir augmentation. Singapore plans to increase the amount of reclaimed water in their reservoirs from 1% to 2.5% by 2011.
Unplanned Indirect Potable Use has existed even before the introduction of Recycled Water. Many cities already use water from rivers that contain effluent discharged from upstream sewage treatment plants. It is sometimes said that water in London has been drunk five times before it arrived at the tap, but this is an exaggeration. There are many large towns on the River Thames upstream of London (Oxford, Reading, Swindon, Bracknell) that discharge their treated sewage into the river, which is used to supply London with water downstream. This phenomenon is also observed in the United States, where the Mississippi River serves as both the destination of sewage treatment plant effluent and the source of potable water.
Research conducted in the 1960s by the London Metropolitan Water Board demonstrated that the maximum extent of recycling water is about 11 times before the taste of water induces nausea in sensitive individuals. This is caused by the build up of inorganic ions such as Cl-, SO42-, K+ and Na+, which are not removed by conventional sewage treatment.
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