I feel like people know that wastewater effluent, if it is reclaimed, can be used for many things. But I don't hear a whole lot about specific uses other than trying to reconvert it to potable water. So I am curious to know if there are different levels of reclamation that are attempted based on an effluent's intended use. When most people think about reclaimed wastewater, are they primarily thinking about potable uses, or are there are other possibilities commonly explored? What are some helpful resources others have used on this topic?
I guess you could find some information, standards etc. in WHO libraries. This organization published a lot about 30 years ago or so about use of wastewater for irrigation purposes.
Here in India reclaimed waste water means that it must be for irrigation purposes only as to convert or reclaim it potable level is very costly and even you convert it to potable people will hesitate to use it. It is primarily could be used in irrigation of crops and gardens. Or it can be used in ground water recharge also. Here are few links which will be useful to you.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0273122396004015
http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/repositoryfiles/ca4103p15-62996.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135404000466
Regards
http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cycles/accessible/water_cycle.html
The above link will give you an idea of how Thames water recycles water. Interestingly, they don't recycle water directly, but treat waste water and return it to the Thames. It can then be taken back into the public water cycle. What isn't clear is if this water is then reused, or is it put back in below source points
Unfortunately, there is not any source that gathers the information about policies, legislation, and techniques. That was a problem I found during my reasearch. When you make a review of the state of art of reclaimed water, you find that while Finland, Israel, Germany and other countries have encouraged the implementation of these technologies, countries such as New Zealand and Middle East are sceptic to do it. So is advisable to focus on a specific scenario.
When we did the research in Arizona we had to call each waste water treatment plant to find out what they were doing with the treated waste water. We started with the NPDES permits to locate the plant, and the state agency also had a list - correlating the databases took a long time as the mailing address of each plant was not necessarily tied to the location of the NPDES permit. In Arizona, the value of recycled water was very high, with power plants and golf courses competing for the water - so far, none is being used for drinking water.
SO, depending on study area, you will likely need to call every facility- but start with the regulatory agency. Good luck!!
In Hervey Bay, Queensland, recycled treated sewage has been used for irrigating sugar cane, hardwood tree plantations, pasture, turf farms, golf club, and sporting fields.
There are “tanker filling stations” to provide water for dust suppression for road works. The new airport industrial estate has a dual reticulation system providing a Class A standard of effluent for “fit for purpose use” eg toilet flushing and outdoor use.
Each application has an individual Reuse Management Plan to ensure environment protection and public safety. The State Government has established the Queensland Water Recycling Guidelines based on four effluent quality classifications to match applications ranging from public fountains, minimally processed food crops (A+) through to silviculture, turf and cotton (D).
Here in Thurston County, WA, USA, there is a study underway to examine potential uses of reclaimed water, potentially even for drinking purposes (see http://www.lottcleanwater.org/reclaimed.htm). The major hurdle so far is how to treat pharmaceutical and related health/household wastes. Hence, the county's land-use regulations presently don't allow recharge of aquifers with reclaimed water in critical areas for fish and wildlife (see http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/planning/planning_commission/agenda/2012-03-07/pc-agenda-20120307-memo-reclaimed-water.pdf). Indeed, aquatic vertebrates are more sensitive to endocrine disruptors than humans, and reclaimed-water usage could deplete streamflows for fishes without flow-restoration considerations.
-Bob Vadas, Jr.
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