Recycling Treated Municipal Wastewater for Industrial Water Use

Section 2
Implementation Considerations
Comparison to Other State Regulatory Practices
There are no federal regulations governing water reclamation and reuse in the United
States; regulations are developed and implemented at the state government level. The
lack of federal regulations has resulted in differing standards among states that have
developed water reuse regulations. In the 1990s, several states adopted or revised their
respective regulations, and it was common practice to base reuse criteria on those of states
that had comprehensive regulations, guidelines, and background information to support
them. The Guidelines for Water Reuse [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1992], which
were published in 1992 (revised in 2004), were also used as a resource by states that had
limited or no regulations or guidelines. Since then, there has been increased interest in
water reuse in several states that previously did not have water reuse regulations.
At present, no states have regulations that cover all potential uses of reclaimed water,
but several states have extensive regulations that prescribe requirements for a wide
range of end uses of the reclaimed water. Other states have regulations or guidelines
that focus on land treatment of wastewater effluent, emphasizing additional treatment
or effluent disposal rather than beneficial reuse, even though the effluent may be used
for irrigation of agricultural sites or public access lands.
Status of Water Reuse Regulations and Guidelines
The status and summary of water reuse regulations and guidelines in the United States
as of 2004 have been documented in the EPA Guidelines for Water Reuse [U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 2004] and are provided in Table 2.2. The absence of
state regulations and guidelines for specific reuse applications does not necessarily
prohibit those applications; many states evaluate specific types of water reuse on a caseby-case
basis. Based on the data in Table 2.2, 25 states have adopted regulations
regarding the use of reclaimed water, 16 states have guidelines or design standards, and
9 states have no regulations or guidelines. These data are somewhat misleading, as they
include regulations and guidelines directed at land disposal of effluent or land
application of wastewater intended primarily as a disposal mechanism rather than
beneficial reuse.
The number of states with regulations or guidelines for each type of reuse is
summarized in Table 2.3. As indicated in Table 2.3, agricultural and landscape
irrigation represent the reclaimed water uses most commonly regulated, and many
states have implemented regulations that apply only to those types of use. As noted
above, these data include state regulations that pertain to land disposal of effluent or
land application of wastewater intended primarily as a disposal mechanism rather than
beneficial reuse.
The standards in states having the most reuse experience tend to be more stringent than
those in states with fewer reuse projects. States that have water reuse regulations or
guidelines typically set standards for reclaimed water quality and specify minimum
treatment requirements, although a few states, such as Texas and New Mexico, do not
prescribe treatment processes and rely solely on water quality limits.
2-4 Craddock Consulting Engineers
In Association with CDM & James Crook
TM1-Sec2_0707.doc