Reusing Water | Ways to Reuse Water

Recycled water has been used in Santa Clara County since the 1970s for a variety of non-drinking purposes, such as landscaping, agricultural and industrial uses. All recycled water produced in Santa Clara County meets or exceeds water quality standards set by the state and is treated and monitored based on its intended uses.

Non-Potable Uses (non-drinkable)

Irrigation/Landscape

Recycled water is used for the irrigation of plants in both the landscape and agricultural sectors. In the landscape sector, recycled water is used for irrigating parks, school yards, golf courses, cemeteries, commercial/industrial and road landscaping. For the agricultural sector, recycled water is used for the irrigation of food crops, provided it is treated to the tertiary level and disinfected, a standard met by all recycled water produced in Santa Clara County. Tertiary treated water is wastewater that has been cleaned three times; a standard within the recycled water industry.

Industrial

Recycled water can be used for a variety of industrial and commercial purposes. The most common uses of recycled water in the business sector are for cooling towers, process water, boiler feed, mixing concrete, and evaporative condensers. Many industries, including paper manufacturers, the high-tech sector, data server farms, power plants, and construction companies (for dust suppression) use recycled water because it makes good business sense. This preserves our drinking water from being used for non-drinking purposes. Recycled water can also be used for flushing toilets in commercial facilities.

Potable Uses (drinking purposes)

We have the potential to use purified water to supplement our drinking water supply. While we are not yet using purified water for drinking purposes in Santa Clara County, here are some use alternatives for the future.

Groundwater Recharge

One critical benefit of purified water is it can be used to replenish the region’s groundwater by blending purified water with existing groundwater.

Some communities such as Orange County have a long history of using purified water to replenish their groundwater supply in order to meet drinking water demand. Scientific studies have shown water of this quality can potentially improve existing groundwater quality.

The Orange County Water District has the world’s largest water purification system for potable reuse. Its state-of-the-art-facility can produce 100 million gallons of high-quality water every day; enough water to meet the needs of nearly 850,000 people annually.

Surface Water Augmentation

Purified water can also be used to increase water levels in our reservoirs and increase our local water supply. In Santa Clara County, water from reservoirs is sent to drinking water treatment plants or to percolation ponds to replenish the groundwater basins.

Raw Water Augmentation

This consists of adding purified water into the pipeline system that delivers raw water to a drinking water treatment plant. The purified water together with the raw water supply would receive further treatment.

Treated Water Augmentation

To boost local drinking water supplies, highly treated purified water could, in the future, be sent directly into the drinking water system.

Ways to Reuse Water