Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Water Reuse
Reuse and recycling of water is a no-brainer when it comes to easing
the stress on municipal water supplies. El Paso's Archuleta attests to
it. (He recently was named a WateReuse Person of the Year 2010 by
the WateReuse Association.) Atwater applauds it, too. “We have 18.5
million people from the Mexican border to Ventura County, and
we're not going to get any more water from the Colorado River or
Northern California,” he says. “We have to live within our means.”
CONSERVATION INCENTIVES
Many water utilities and municipalities across the country spon-
sor various water-saving initiatives and conservation education
programs for residential and business customers. Check with your
local water provider to fi nd out what's available in your area. Some
options may include:
Rebates for high-effi ciency clothes washers, dishwashers, and toilets
Rebates or vouchers to subsidize the use of low-water landscaping
or the removal of high-water-use turf
Rebates for irrigation systems that conserve water
Incentives for use of synthetic turf—50 cents per square foot, for
example
Rebates to encourage lower water usage
In-school conservation education programs
Free landscape and water-use audits
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Somehow, says Atwater, his utility must “create more water in
Southern California. That means we're going to have to recycle and
reuse instead of dumping highly treated wastewater into the ocean.
We're going to irrigate our city parks, schools, golf courses, and
we're going to use our highly treated wastewater to do it. There's
a lot of opportunity to squeeze and become much more effi cient in
the way we use water.”
The state of Florida already has a law requiring part of its sani-
tary waste to be reclaimed and used elsewhere rather than simply dis-
charged as gray water into the ocean, adds Orlando water attorney
