Recycling Treated Municipal Wastewater for Industrial Water Use

Testing for possible cross connections at least every four years;
Appendix B
Status of Water Reuse Regulations and Guidelines
Notification of any incidence of backflow from the reclaimed water system into the
potable water system within 24 hours of discovery;
Conformance to the DHS cross connection control regulations; and
Facilities that produce or process food products or beverages can use reclaimed water
internally only for fire suppression systems.
State Regulations for Indirect Potable Reuse
There are no direct potable reuse projects in the United States, and no states have
developed regulations allowing such use. From a regulatory standpoint, few states have
addressed the challenge of developing regulations for indirect potable reuse. California
and Florida are in the forefront of developing discrete criteria relating to planned
indirect potable reuse of reclaimed water. Some of the other states rely on U.S. EPA’s
Underground Injection Control regulations to protect potable ground water basins,
while some states prohibit indirect potable reuse altogether. There are no federal
regulations that specifically address potable reuse of reclaimed water.
State of California
The existing California Water Recycling Criteria include general requirements for ground
water recharge of domestic water supply aquifers by surface spreading. The regulations
state that reclaimed water used for ground water recharge of domestic water supply
aquifers by surface spreading “shall be at all times of a quality that fully protects public
health” and that DHS recommendations “will be based on all relevant aspects of each
project, including the following factors: treatment provided; effluent quality and quantity;
spreading area operations; soil characteristics; hydrogeology; residence time; and distance
to withdrawal.” Until more definitive criteria are adopted, proposals to recharge ground
water by either surface spreading or injection will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis,
although draft ground water recharge criteria described below will guide DHS decisions.
California has prepared draft criteria for ground water recharge (the most recent being
in 2004), which are summarized in Table 5.
State of Florida
Florida’s water reuse rules pertaining to ground water recharge and indirect potable
reuse are summarized in Table 6. Although not specifically designated as indirect
potable reuse systems, ground water recharge projects located over potable aquifers
could function as an indirect potable reuse system. If more than 50 percent of the
wastewater applied to the systems is collected after percolation, the systems are
considered to be effluent disposal systems and not beneficial reuse. Loading to these
systems is limited to 9 inches/day. For systems having higher loading rates or a more
direct connection to an aquifer than normally encountered, reclaimed water must
receive secondary treatment, filtration, disinfection, and must meet primary and
secondary drinking water standards.
Craddock Consulting Engineers B-14
In Association with CDM & James Crook
WWReuse Tm1_Appendix B_Regulatory.doc