Reuse
Facts
Reuse
Terms
-
"Reclaimed
water" means water that has received at least
secondary treatment and basic disinfection and is
reused after flowing out of a domestic wastewater
treatment facility.
-
"Reuse"
means the deliberate application of reclaimed water
for a beneficial purpose.
Note: For
related terms concerning capacity versus flow.
Why
Reuse Water?
As
Florida’s population continues to grow by about 4,500
persons each week, the demand for fresh, clean water
also increases - a fact which will lead to more
widespread, severe, and more prolonged, water
shortages. Almost 80 percent of the 17 million people
in Florida live near the coast, and population growth
continues to center on coastal areas. Near the coast,
ground water supplies are limited, shallow, and
vulnerable to overdraft, contamination, and salt water
intrusion. Reuse helps to conserve potable water
supplies since reclaimed water is used in place of
potable water for certain purposes. In addition, many
reuse activities can help recharge ground water
supplies.
Florida
does not have large, rapidly flowing streams to
assimilate large discharges of the wastewater generated
by its growing population. Its numerous streams tend to
be small. They flow slowly and are warm year-round.
They flow into lakes or coastal waters that are prone
to excessive growth of algae, water hyacinths, and
other nuisance aquatic weeds. In a state that depends
upon the high quality of its surface waters for an
important tourist industry, as a drawing card for
growth and development, and as a basis for a high
quality of life, protection of these surface waters is
critical.
To
protect the quality of valuable surface waters,
wastewater treatment facilities have become more
advanced and sophisticated and much more expensive to
build and to operate. With such limited opportunities
to discharge treated wastewater into surface streams,
more and more communities are turning to reuse of
reclaimed water as a way to manage their wastewater.
Reuse
can help the state meet the water supply and wastewater
management needs of its growing population. Recognizing
this, Florida promotes reuse of reclaimed water and
water conservation as major state objectives.
