California was the first state to implement water reuse regulations in the United
States and adopted its first criteria in 1918. That state's regulations have been
revised several times since then, and are currently under revision once again. In
recent years, other states have adopted criteria as water reclamation and reuse
have been identified as key components of total water resources management. While
there are no federal regulations directly addressing water reuse, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the value of water reuse and
published guidelines in 1992. Trends affecting regulatory development are
presented in this paper. A number of states have or are developing water reuse
regulations or guidelines. Many states have a structure with separate agencies
responsible for regulating wastewater and potable water. When moving towards
establishing water reuse regulation, states have been confronted with the need to
identify the appropriate entity within the existing structure to establish and
enforce water reuse regulations. Comparisons of various structures are presented.
The existing or proposed state criteria vary considerably both in types of reuse
applications allowed and in their respective treatment and reclaimed water
quality requirements. Existing regulations from several states that have
developed comprehensive criteria, such as Arizona, California, Florida, Oregon,
Texas, and Washington, vary for reuse applications. The EPA water reuse
guidelines address a number of similar reuse applications. A comparison of
various standards for reuse applications is presented which leads to a discussion
of the need or appropriateness of developing federal regulations for water reuse.
Implementation challenges accompany the development of new regulations and raise
new questions. The advantages and disadvantages of national standards will be
presented in light of the potential impact on states that currently have criteria
and those that have no criteria. Professional organizations such as the American
Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) have
supported reuse in a variety of ways. These efforts and their impacts are also
discussed in this paper. Includes 9 references, tables.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 210 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 13 |
| Published : | 01/01/2000 |
