by Grant Campbell

Created on: June 13, 2009   Last Updated: July 01, 2009

As the drought in the southeastern United States worsens, some cities are still throwing away a valuable resource, waste water. Twenty-four hours a day, every day, we are pumping millions of gallons of partially treated waste water into our oceans, lakes, streams and rivers around the world.

Waste water can be treated for use as "grey water" which is used for irrigation, industrial uses, cooling and washing items such as autos and farm equipment and buildings. It can be further treated to become a source of potable water.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has passed legislation that will bring about the elimination of domestic wastewater, ocean outfall discharges in Southeast Florida through a gradual transition to reclaimed water reuse. This legislation can be used as a pattern for other areas that are still throwing water away.

Six facilities in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties (two in each county) discharge some 300 million gallons of treated domestic wastewater directly into the Atlantic Ocean every day. At the same time, the demand for public water supply in these three counties is projected to grow by that same amount 300 million gallons per day over the next 20 years to a total of almost 1.15 billion gallons per day. The traditional sources of water supply in Southeast Florida groundwater and the Regional System (Everglades, Lake Okeechobee) are being taxed beyond sustainability. Continuing water restrictions associated with the current drought, highlight the need to develop drought proof alternative water supplies.

Only a small fraction of the wastewater at the six facilities is being beneficially reused rather than discharged. Reuse of reclaimed water is a proven, safe, and economically feasible substitute for potable water for urban and agricultural landscapes, industrial and commercial uses, and augmenting or recharging surface and groundwater supplies. Further treatment and filtering renders it a completely safe potable water source.

Outside of the three counties using ocean outfalls, 61% of Florida's domestic wastewater is reused every day in these three counties, that figure is only 10%.

A growing line of evidence suggests that land-based sources of pollutants, especially nutrients, are affecting the health of the coral reefs off the Southeast coast. Our coral reef system contributes significantly to tourism and the overall economy in South Florida, and the system is already threatened.

The wastewater that we

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