What is Recycled Water?

Recycled water is highly treated wastewater that has been filtered to remove solids and other impurities as well as disinfected by a water treatment plant. It comes from various sources such as domestic sewage, industrial wastewater and stormwater runoff. The quality of recycled water depends upon the source water and the level of treatment. Several other terms are also used for recycled water, including reclaimed water, effluent water, treated effluent water and treated sewage water. Compared to potable drinking water, recycled water often contains more total dissolved salts and nutrients which currently limits its use to sustainable landscape irrigation or to recharge groundwater aquifers.