Water Recycling Program
Recycled water is treated and clean water that has undergone significant filtration and disinfection processes to make it safe for non-potable (non-drinking) uses.
Our Water Recycling Program (Program) offers resource management and discharge options. Since April 2003, SacSewer’s Program has provided an environmentally responsible and safe recycled water supply for landscape irrigation, industrial uses, environmental restoration, and other uses to benefit our region.
Establishing Local Partnerships
The Program is a partnership between SacSewer and the Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA). SacSewer produces the recycled water at its EchoWater Facility and monitors recycled water quality, while SCWA distributes recycled water to customers and monitors recycled water use.
Currently, the Program provides up to 3.5 million gallons per day (MGD) of recycled water to neighboring parks, landscaped street medians, and commercial and school sites in the Laguna West, Lakeside, and Stone Lakes developments. It also provides up to 1-MGD for industrial uses at the Campbell Power Plant’s cooling towers.
Safe and Sensible
Recycled water treated at the EchoWater Facility meets and exceeds the California Department of Health Services’ most stringent irrigation requirements for recycled water. There has never been a documented health-related problem traced back to recycled water when used in accordance with state guidelines.
- California’s recycled water standards are among the most stringent in the world.
- Recycled water is treated to a level very close to drinking water quality.
- Recycled water is delivered through purple pipes that are completely separate from the potable (drinking) water pipes.
- Water recycling production facilities and distribution systems are monitored continuously.
- Recycled water at the tertiary treatment level is virtually pathogen-free.
- Water recycling can help with Clean Water Act compliance and meeting future discharge regulations.
- Routine inspections are conducted to ensure there is no cross connection between potable water pipes and recycled water pipes.
Benefits of Recycled Water
SacSewer is committed to water recycling as it can provide an effluent management option, while helping to augment the region’s groundwater and surface water supplies, especially during drought periods and times of high potable water demand and low supply.
Following the EchoWater Project’s completion in 2023 , we treat an average of 135 million gallons of sewage per day. Our Water Recycling Program offers resource management and discharge options such as Harvest Water – an agricultural water recycling program.
Program Goals
In January 2004, SacSewer’s Board of Directors approved the concept for a large-scale Program, which includes the following goals:
Increase water recycling throughout the Sacramento region on the scale of 30 to 40 million gallons per day (MDG) over the next 20 years.
Increase utilization of recycled water to expand SacSewer’s effluent management options beyond continued discharge to the Sacramento River.
Increase utilization of recycled water to meet growing non-potable demands, allowing Sacramento area water purveyors to reduce demands on their existing potable water supplies and reduce the need for additional water supplies in the future.
With the upcoming expansion of the Program planned in the urban areas (Cities of Elk Grove and Sacramento) and the agricultural areas (Harvest Water service area), the Program is expected to start recycled water deliveries well over the 40 MGD goal.
