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Water Reuse: A Facilitator of Economic Growth Adequate resources to fuel economic growth are essential to thriving communities. A sufficient water supply and adequate wastewater treatment capacity are two critical factors. Both are needed to sustain current and future population as well as commercial and industrial growth. Lack of these resources could limit development in Hampton Roads. Reclaimed water is an additional water resource that can positively and directly affect our economic growth potential. Increased water consumption always accompanies growth and development, which means we will need a more robust water supply. The increased use of drinking water for our growing population results in an increase in the amount of wastewater to be treated. More wastewater will, in turn, require a heightened focus on managing accompanying nutrients as they are discharged to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Increasing discharges of nutrients to the Bay contradicts the current regulatory emphasis on reducing those same nutrients. Wastewater has long been regulated by an established control mechanism using permits. Permitting has been successful and has yielded positive environmental results in the past by reducing nutrients. Further limits on nutrient discharges to the Bay are being implemented. Some think that the simple solution is to reduce or eliminate the discharge of these nutrients at the source, thus preventing their entry into the Bay. However, all of the easy and most cost-effective controls have already been implemented on existing wastewater treatment plants. Further efforts to remove the last drops of nutrients from treated wastewater will be accomplished at a very high cost with limited efficiency. Cost/benefit analyses show a less than favorable return for further removal of nutrients from wastewater by additional treatment plant controls. An obvious conflict is apparent. Development causes increased water use and, subsequently, increased wastewater flows with the associated nutrients. Along with the obvious conflict is an obvious solution. We can reduce or at least maintain wastewater effluent nutrient contributions to the Bay and its tributaries by reusing the effluent. It is beneficial to use this reclaimed water instead of discharging it directly to ambient waters. Reclaimed water can meet both the moisture and nutrient needs for any type of plant growth. Investments in water reuse have yielded identifiable and quantifiable results in irrigation applications. The benefits include green grass, healthy crops, and reduced potable water consumption. Water reuse is an important strategy that conserves the drinking water supply, provides for reasonable controlled growth, and reduces the discharge of nutrients.
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Hampton Roads Sanitation District - HRSD © 2006 Main Office - 1436 Air Rail Avenue - Virginia Beach, Va 23455 or P.O. Box 5911 - Virginia Beach, Va 23471-0911 Phone: 757-460-2261 |
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