New General Permit for Reclaimed Water Reuse to be Proposed

This fall, the Division of Water Quality plans to issue its new Reclaimed Water for Beneficial Reuse general permit for Restricted Access reuse type activities. These include sewer jetting and street sweeping. Facilities will simply have to request authorization under this general permit to begin reusing their effluent for these reuse activities.

In addition, the division will now include, in surface water and ground water discharge permits, special Reclaimed Water for Beneficial Reuse conditions to ease the process for facilities wishing to implement reuse activities. With the population of New Jersey continuing to grow and drought occurrences becoming more dramatic, the concept of reclaimed water for beneficial reuse is receiving a lot more attention.

Reusing wastewater is not new - it has existed for over 30 years, with Florida and California leading the way. One of the first wastewater reuse systems in Florida dates back to 1977 with the inception of the St. Petersburg dual distribution system. In this system, highly treated wastewater is distributed to residential homes for use in lawn irrigation. California's water reuse dates back to 1976. One of their first projects, known as Water Factory 21, treats approximately 15 million gallons a day of effluent to drinking water quality standards. The reclaimed water is blended with approximately 8 million gallons a day of well water and injected into an aquifer to protect against salt water intrusion. The reclaimed water also replenishes an aquifer, which supplies 75 percent of Orange County's drinking water.

Today, there are thousands of wastewater reuse projects around the country. In California, the grapes used by Gallo Wineries are irrigated with reclaimed water. Reclaimed water is used to wash Disney buses in Florida and irrigate numerous orange groves. Nationwide, golf courses, school grounds, athletic fields, industrial applications such as cooling and non-contact cooling waters are using reclaimed water for beneficial reuse.

How much water is being reused? In 2002, Florida reused approximately 570 million gallons a day of their wastewater rather than discharging into the ocean, lakes or streams. This sharply contrasts with New Jersey's approximately 700 million gallons a day of wastewater discharged into ocean and bays - wastewater that could have been recycled for other uses.

New Jersey has long established recycling programs for paper, glass and aluminum cans, but until 1999, no program for wastewater recycling existed. The droughts of 1999 and 2002 emphasized the importance of the state's precious water supplies and helped generate interest in the wastewater reuse concept. Today, New Jersey is on its way to becoming a wastewater reuse leader in the northeast as other states in the region seek advice from the DEP.

Although still in its infancy, New Jersey's water reuse program has some notable success stories. Examples include the Evesham Township Indian Springs Golf Course project, the Bristol Myers non-contact cooling water reuse project, and the Bergen County MUA/PSEG non-contact cooling water reuse project. In 2002, approximately 230 million gallons of effluent was reused for beneficial purposes in New Jersey.

If you have any questions on wastewater reuse, contact Joe Mannick with Point Source Permitting, Region 2 (609) 292-4860, Mark Miller with Non-Point Pollution Control at (609) 292-0407 or Ben Manhas with Point Source Permitting, Region 1 (609) 633-3869. Information on Reclaimed Water for Beneficial Reuse can also be found at the Division of Water Quality's Web Page at www.state.nj.us/dep/dwq/reuseff.htm.