Waste Not, Want Not: Reuse

Mimicking Nature: Sand Dunes & Wetlands

Designed Ecosystems

Government Regulations

Water Recycling in N.C.

Three agencies regulate wastewater and the levels of nutrients and contaminants permissible in treated wastewater within the state of North Carolina.

1. The Department of Insurance requires that all plumbing associated with indoor reuse be specially and prominently labeled to prevent cross connections between potable and non-potable water.
2. The North Carolina Division of Environmental Health, which is charged with protecting the public health, requires that there be residual chloride flowing through any indoor plumbing to prevent the growth of algae and bacteria.
3. The North Carolina Division of Water Quality requires that treated wastewater be disinfected before it is released into the natural environment or reused. Ultraviolet disinfection is sufficient for water to be used for irrigation.

In the summer of 1996 new regulations were designed for water quality by these agencies. The Triangle School Wastewater Treatment Facility was the first to be designed to meet these new standards.

The Environmental Protection Agency of the federal government passed the Clean Water Act in 1977 which is an amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, which set the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants to waters of the United States. The law gave the EPA the authority to set effluent standards on an industry basis and continued the requirements to set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters.