Direct Potable Reuse in Arizona

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has implemented a new regulation that expands potable reuse for facilities under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Referred to as Advanced Water Purification (AWP), the regulation improves the sustainability of the state's water supplies to provide clean and safe recycled water for Arizona communities. This approval makes the AWP rules effective, establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework that ensures the safe and reliable purification of treated water for potable use while supporting a sustainable water supply for communities statewide.

What is Potable Reuse?

Potable reuse refers to the process of recycling wastewater to help increase the supply of a community’s drinking water, which is crucial for areas experiencing water scarcity through drought or aquafer depletion.

Potable reuse can refer to two different forms of recycled water: indirect and direct.

Indirect potable reuse involves sending treated wastewater to an advanced water treatment facility for purification before it’s stored in environmental buffers like rivers or aquafers. The water is then pulled into the drinking water treatment plan for further purification before it’s distributed to the community.

Direct potable reuse also involves sending treated wastewater to advanced water treatment plants, but this purified water is sent directly to the drinking water treatment plant – instead of the environment - for further purification before it’s distributed to the community.