Reclaimed water: what it is and why large users want it

What reclaimed water is

Reclaimed water is treated wastewater reused for purposes other than drinking. A wastewater plant treats the water further than it would for release to a river. Then it pipes the water to users through a separate system. People also call it reuse water or recycled water.

In North Carolina, state rules set the treatment level and the allowed uses. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality administers those rules.

How reclaimed water is used

Reclaimed water serves uses such as irrigation, industrial cooling, toilet flushing, and construction dust control. Golf courses, parks, and highway medians are common irrigation customers. Industrial plants and data centers use it in cooling towers. It is never for drinking.

Reclaimed pipes run separate from drinking-water pipes, and they are often purple so crews can tell them apart.

How a user gets reclaimed water

A user gets reclaimed water from a utility that runs a reclaimed system and has a line that reaches the site. The steps follow a set order.

1. Confirm that the serving utility produces reclaimed water.
2. Confirm that a reclaimed line reaches the site or can be extended to it.
3. Agree on the amount, the quality, and the rate with the utility.
4. Settle who pays for any line extension.
5. Build separate plumbing on site, with protection against backflow into drinking water.

The utility decides whether it can serve and on what terms. A will-serve letter is often the first written answer.

What limits reclaimed water

Reclaimed water faces limits of supply, quality, distance, and season.

• Supply. The amount depends on the plant’s wastewater flow, and the utility may have already committed much of it.
• Quality. Cooling equipment may need extra treatment on site to handle minerals and nutrients in the water.
• Distance. A long extension costs money and crosses land that others own.
• Seasonal demand. Irrigation peaks in summer, the same season cooling demand peaks.

Because of these limits, most large users keep a drinking-water connection as a backup.

Why it matters for a large water user

For a large water user, reclaimed water can be the difference between a supply the utility will commit and one it will not. Large users such as data centers, manufacturing plants, and power plants draw heavily for cooling. Reclaimed water reduces their draw on drinking water.

That reduction often matters at public hearings, where residents ask whether a new user will strain the supply. It can also make a utility more willing to serve. A site near a reclaimed line or a treatment plant has an option that other sites lack. See data center water usage.

What the public record shows

The public record shows treatment plant locations, some reclaimed line maps, and utility reuse programs in public documents. It cannot show spare reclaimed supply, water quality at a given point, or the terms for a new user. The utility confirms supply and terms. The buyer’s engineer confirms what treatment the cooling design needs. See what we check for water and sewer.

Questions

Is reclaimed water safe to use?

Reclaimed water is treated to the standard state rules set for each allowed use. It is suitable for those uses, such as irrigation and cooling, and it is not for drinking.

Can a data center run on reclaimed water alone?

A data center can draw much of its cooling water from a reclaimed system where supply allows. Most designs still keep a drinking-water connection as a backup for plant or line outages.

Does every town offer reclaimed water?

No. Only utilities that have built a reclaimed system offer it, and their lines reach only part of their service area. The serving utility confirms whether a site can connect.