If you would like to learn more about recycled water, please take a look at the FAQ below. If you have additional questions, we would be more than happy to help.
Recycled water comes from bathtubs, toilets, and sinks and filtered through a treatment plant where it is cleaned through a treatment process. This high quality treated water is safe for use in irrigating agriculture and landscapes, golf courses, playgrounds, and much more. It is also often used for fire suppression systems, industrial processes, etc. Recycled water allows water managers to use this water for non-drinking uses so that the purest water sources are only used for public drinking.
Water received at the treatment plant comes from wastewater of residents and businesses in the surrounding area. After it enters the treatment plant it goes through a regulated purification and disinfection process. Samples of the water are taken throughout the process and tested to ensure high quality.
The Laguna Treatment Center in Santa Rosa complies with the highest level of treatment dictated by the State of California. The city’s recycled water is daily monitored and tested to ensure that it is consistent in its level of quality.
Yes. Recycled water is constantly monitored, regulated and tested by:
The Laguna Environmental Laboratory
The Environmental Protection Agency
The Regional Water Quality Control Board
Department of Public Health
For more information, the safety of water is further explored in “Recycled Water: Putting the Risk into Perspective”.
There are four treatment stages that recycled water will go through. Each step is necessary before it is used and considered tertiary recycled water.
Water recycling has been used throughout the world and in our country well over its experimental stage. It has been used for irrigation for parks, playing fields, crops and much more in many states. Some communities in California have used it to landscape for over 20 years.
Water recycling is important because for every gallon of recycled water used, a gallon of valuable clean drinking water is saved. Another large draw for recycled water is that it can be used even in a drought. It is environmentally responsible, just as recycling bottles and paper is.
Yes. Over 16,000 parks are irrigated with recycled water. This water has the quality of treatment that could be used for recreation lakes. Because it is monitored so carefully it is cleaner than most beaches. It has been determined by The California Department of Public Health to be “pathogen free”.
Its use is voluntary for existing sites. For any new development using irrigation, recycled water is mandatory.
Recycled water can play a big role in successful maintenance of landscape. It contains a higher content of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen, which are beneficial for landscapes.