Tap water vs. Reclaimed Water

I feel guilty because I haven't posted in a while, but I'm back in action. Yeah!

But seriously.


We found some some differences in our sources. One source said, "Reclaimed water costs $3.28 per thousand gallons, which is currently about $2.05 less than water from an irrigation connection..."
But the EPA said this, "On average, tap water costs are slightly more than $2 per 1,000 gallons..."
We're not quite sure who to listen to, but we'll definitely do some more research. The EPA is generally a good source though, considering that they are the Environmental Protection Agency.
Yet another Source we found, that I think will be the one we listen to above all, would be on the City of San Diego website. What it states goes as following, "The cost for recycled water is .80 cents per hundred cubic feet (HCF) of water, which is equal to 748 gallons. This is a tremendous deal when compared to the current potable water rate which is about $1.91 per HCF."

Reclaimed water is extensively treated as to minimize the harmful effects on humans. The City of San Diego's website says that, "Recycled water is the end product of a three-stage treatment process in which municipal wastewater is settled out, biologically oxidized, clarified, chemically coagulated, filtered and disinfected. The resulting water is clear and colorless. Although recycled water may have a slight chlorine smell, it is visibly indistinguishable from tap water to the human eye."

It is mandatory that Recycled water be marked with signs saying things like "We are conserving our most valuable resource by irrigating our landscaping with recycled water," or, "Caution - Do Not Drink."



http://www.ewg.org/tapwater/images/chart_chemicalsdetected3.gif
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sdwa/30th/factsheets/pdfs/fs_30ann_dwsrf_web.pdf
http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pwdept/wessexwat.htm
http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/water/wattap.html

Total winner website;
http://www.sandiego.gov/water/recycled/faq.shtml