What is reclaimed water?
Reclaimed water, sometime incorrectly called reuse or gray water, is the effluent water from a wastewater treatment plant that has been highly treated and disinfected to ensure and protect the public health and the environment. Reclaimed water provides an alternative water supply source for irrigation and industrial purposes to help conserve our potable water. Reclaimed water is not to be used for drinking or bathing.
Reclaimed water is an environmentally sound way of reusing our water resources while saving our drinking water supplies for future uses. Wastewater from our kitchens, laundry rooms, bathrooms, and sinks is collected and transported through a system of underground pipes to one of the City’s Water Reclamation Facilities. Here it undergoes extensive treatment where it is cleaned to meet the State’s Water Quality Standards. The reclaimed water is then used to irrigate non-edible crops, parks, golf courses, common areas and to supply water to lakes.
Georgia Tech regularly uses reclaimed, or recycled, water to irrigate green spaces on campus. The term “reclaimed water” denotes that water has been treated and purified for reuse, rather than discharged into a body of water, such as the sewer system. Georgia Tech reclaims rainwater, condensate from chillers, and water from several underground springs located across campus. Georgia Tech’s use of reclaimed, non-potable water saves more than 5,000 gallons of water each week from being diverted into Atlanta’s sewers.
Reclaimed water is treated wastewater which can be used in nonpotable applications, meaning situations in which the water will not be consumed by people or animals. Many regions around the world promote the use of reclaimed water to conserve water supplies, ensuring that access to potable water will always be available. In some areas, reclaimed water may be subsidized by regional agencies to make it a low-cost alternative to using potable water. There are a number of uses for reclaimed water. For example, it can be used to irrigate landscaping and golf courses. It can also be used in ornamental water features like fountains, and for things like hosing down buildings and sidewalks, suppressing dust, and fighting fires. Essentially, any situation in which water will not be consumed is appropriate for reclaimed water, with potable water being reserved for cooking, bathing, irritating edible plants, and washing clothes. Water treatments create reclaimed water by treating sewage, removing t
