Arizona Water Meter
Effluent Use
Seven principles for water conservation
Click to see how these principles affect water use:
In an arid state such as Arizona, it's essential to maximize the number of times water is used. Highly treated wastewater, also known as effluent, reclaimed water, or recycled water, is appropriate to use for recharging groundwater aquifers, irrigation of landscapes, environmental restoration, process water for industrial facilities, return flow credits, cooling tower water, and many other purposes. For many of these uses, potable drinking water is not required. For instance, grass does not need chlorinated and fluorinated drinking water to survive, and may actually benefit from nutrients found in some reclaimed water. Every gallon of recycled water that is used displaces the need for a gallon of scarce and valuable drinking water.
It is no surprise that every provider studied is utilizing its effluent for some purpose — and a majority of providers are putting all of their effluent to beneficial use. The two most common uses for effluent are groundwater recharge and irrigation of high-water use landscapes, such as golf courses.
This graph notes the percentage of the wastewater produced by these municipalities that is returned to use after treatment.
Every community, except Phoenix and Casa Grande, recharges some portion of effluent to its local groundwater aquifer. Several communities recharge 100% of effluent, such as Sierra Vista, but a mix of effluent use is more common.
Direct use of effluent, generally for irrigation, occurs in most of the communities in this report. Scottsdale, for instance, uses 72% of its effluent for watering golf courses. Utilities also use effluent for industrial processes (Casa Grande), and wetlands restoration and maintenance (Phoenix and Yuma).