MIL-HDBK-1005/16
2.3.5
Wastewater Reuse. Two general categories of wastewater
management exist: wastewater disposal and wastewater reuse.
Several states and communities have, for decades, been promoting
the beneficial reuse of wastewater as a way of reducing both
water demands and wastewater disposal to the environment.
Wastewater treated to appropriate standards and reused is often
referred to as reclaimed water. The most common reuse projects
involve the use of reclaimed water for irrigation purposes
(e.g., golf courses, residential, and commercial). Other uses of
reclaimed water may include fire protection, landscape features
(ponds or fountains), and industrial supply. Generally, a
project is considered a reuse project only if the reclaimed water
discharge enhances the environment or replaces or generates a
future potable water supply. A groundwater monitoring plan is
often required as part of a reuse system to demonstrate that
compliance with appropriate groundwater quality standards is
maintained throughout normal operation of the reuse system.
Groundwater discharge is sometimes referred to as
"groundwater recharge" and may be considered reuse if it is used
to replenish a freshwater aquifer. However, contamination of a
potential drinking water supply may be a concern. Groundwater
recharge may be in the form of slow rate infiltration (e.g., land
application) or rapid rate infiltration (e.g., through injection
wells or percolation ponds). Most land application projects that
rely on groundwater infiltration for effluent disposal would be
considered disposal projects, not reuse projects, unless it can
be demonstrated that the groundwater infiltration is beneficially
recharging a usable aquifer without degrading the quality of the
aquifer for future potable or nonpotable uses. Rapid rate
infiltration reuse projects may include banking of reclaimed
water to augment future reuse systems, or saltwater intrusion
barriers to protect or enhance future potable or nonpotable
groundwater supplies. Deep well injection to a saltwater aquifer
is not typically considered to be reuse; however, injection wells
may provide an important component of a reuse system to allow for
disposal of excess wet weather flows.
Any disposal to natural surface waters is considered an
NPDES discharge and will be subject to all applicable rules.
If this discharge is to a saltwater body, no reuse can be
demonstrated. However, if the discharge is to a freshwater body
that is subsequently used for indirect potable or nonpotable
water supplies, such as a golf course pond, a beneficial reuse
may exist as long as no water quality degradation has occurred.
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