Success Stories

The water reuse industry has experienced rapid growth as well as tremendous changes over the last few years due to the worldwide need for alternative water supplies due to increasing demand from population growth and other factors.  Although a number of communities have been involved in water reuse for many years there is a rapidly growing interest in the beneficial reuse of municipal wastewater effluent and other alternative sources of water supply.

City of Tucson’s Reclaimed Water System

The City owns and operates a municipal water utility, Tucson Water, which provides potable and reclaimed water service in the Tucson metropolitan area. Tucson Water serves potable water to over 732,000 people, about 72 percent of the metropolitan population. In 2007 the utility delivered approximately 123,000 acre-feet of potable water and 17, 130 acre-feet of reclaimed water.  View

Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), Virginia

A goal at HRSD was to use reclaimed water—instead of drinkable water—for non-drinking applications. With the use of reclaimed water, the Yorktown Refinery has reduced costs while providing a drought-proof source of water. Additionally, Newport News Water Works conserved its drinkable water resources, and HRSD reduced the nutrient load released to the York River, a tributary of the highly regulated Chesapeake Bay. View

Irvine Ranch Water District, California

This semiarid region, with an average of 12 - 13 inches of rainfall per year, gets its drinking water from surface water and local groundwater wells. The water recycling program helps maximize drinking water supplies by reducing the need to use potable water for nonpotable uses, and minimize the amount of treated wastewater that must be sent for disposal through an ocean outfall. View

Montebello Forebay Groundwater Recharge Project, California

A desert area with depleting groundwater supplies, this area also faced legislation allowing other communities use of its water resources (specifically the Colorado River), leading to concerns about decreased water availability.  The use of recycled water for groundwater recharge eliminated higher costs of importing water or of seawater desalination. View

Monterey County Water Recycling Projects, California: Studies showing benefits and safety of reuse for crop irrigation

A regional wastewater management plan was developed to provide recycled water for food crop irrigation. By doing so, growers could discontinue pumping from their wells, thus alleviating over-drafting of the groundwater. It is anticipated that the use of recycled water for agricultural irrigation will eventually reduce seawater intrusion by 40 to 50 percent. View

Orange County Water District’s Groundwater Replenishment System, California

The Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System provides a new drought-proof water source for northern and central Orange County, reducing reliance on imported water. Additionally, the GWR System will save additional funds in the future by improving the quality of the water in the Orange County groundwater basin. This water quality improvement takes place when the new purified water, low in minerals, mixes with existing groundwater, lowering the average mineral content of Orange County's water. Lowering the amount of minerals in the water or reducing water hardness will decrease maintenance costs for Orange County's residents and businesses by extending the life of water heaters, boilers, cooling towers and plumbing fixtures.  Visit

Petaluma, California

A state of the art treatment facility using tertiary treated recycled water for creating beneficial wetlands.   Visit View PDF

Pinellas County’s Reclaimed Water Program, Florida

Burgeoning population and associated drinking water demands resulted in the need to obtain water supplies outside of Pinellas County. The County experienced a brief building moratorium in the 1970s due to the unavailability of the then existing water sources to sustain new growth. A water management program was needed. View

Redwood City, California

Redwood City has been preparing for drought conditions for several years and was able to over-come public concerns about recycled water safety to become a truly successful recycled water project. Their ongoing water conservation efforts and award winning Recycled Water Program have been effective in reducing their overall water usage. Their recent Recycled Water Use Ordinance will allow them to reuse even more non-potable water where it is feasible and continue to meet all public health, safety and environmental standards. Their project currently saves approximately 50 million gallons of drinking water per year, with a goal of saving up to 300 million gallons by the year 2010.  View

San Antonio Water System, Texas

Withdrawals from the Edwards Aquifer were historically based on the right of capture, allowing any user to withdraw as much water as could be used for beneficial purposes. But demand for water began to surpass the aquifer’s safe yield, and legislation was passed to limit withdrawals. For the first time in its history, San Antonio needed to develop new water resources. View

Santa Rosa, California

The Santa Rosa Subregional System has demonstrated that using up to 100% of its generated wastewater is completely possible. There primary practice is turning wastewater into electricity. They are fortunate in that they are located near a geothermal well that has been rejuvenated by the injection of this new water source extending its life while generating enough electricity for up to 100, 000 households in the San Francisco Bay Area.    Visit View PDF

Read Guided by Geysers 
American Infrastructure Magazine, on page 22.

South Bay Water Recycling, California

South Bay Water Recycling (SBWR) consists of over 100 miles of pipe serving the cities of Milpitas, Santa Clara and San José. During the summer months, an average of 14 million gallons of recycled water are produced and distributed to over 600 customers per day, preserving their valuable drinking water for future generations.   Visit

St. Petersburg, Florida

While a dual system was developed to avoid costs associated with upgrading treatment to reduce nutrient levels in effluent, reclaimed water use is now an important component of the overall water resources management. Because of the lowered demand for potable water, the need to develop additional potable water supply sources has been postponed and may not be needed at all if current water usage trends continue. View

Water Conserv II Project: Orange County and Orlando, Florida

A citizens group filed a lawsuit to stop discharge of treated wastewater to Shingle Creek, contending that the effluent discharges were contributing to degradation of the lake and its fish habitat. The citizens group won the case, and an injunction was issued to cease the effluent discharge. At the same time, a growing population in the region required expansion of both wastewater treatment plants. View

West Basin Municipal Water District (WBMWD), California

WBMWD, a public agency that wholesales imported potable water and recycled water, provides 80 percent of the potable water used in its service area.  WBMWD began considering alternative water sources—such as recycling and desalinating—due to the prospect of a dwindling imported water supply from environmental concerns and anticipated allotment cutbacks, extended droughts and lack of emergency storage facilities. View