Recycled Water Uses1 Allowed in California
This summary is prepared by WateReuse Association, from the September 1998 draft of proposed Title-22 revisions and supersedes previous versions.
Irrigation
- Food crops where recycled water contacts the edible portion of the crop, including all root crops
- Parks and playgrounds
- School yards
- Residential landscaping
- Unrestricted access golf courses
- Any other irrigation uses not prohibited by other provisions of the California Code of Regulations
- Cemeteries
- Freeway landscaping
- Restricted access golf courses
- Ornamental nursery stock and sod farms
- Pasture for milk animals
- Nonedible vegetation with access control to prevent use as a park, playground or school yard
- Orchards with no contact between edible portion and recycled water
- Vineyards with no contact between edible portion and recycled water
- Non food-bearing trees, including Christmas trees not irrigated less than 14 days before harvest
- Fodder crops (e.g. alfalfa) and fiber crops (e.g. cotton)
- Seed crops not eaten by humans
- Food crops that undergo commercial pathogen-destroying processing before consumption by humans
- Ornamental nursery stock, sod farms not irrigated less than 14 days before harvest
Supply for Impoundment
- Non-restricted recreational impoundments, with supplemental monitoring for pathogenic organisms2
- Restricted recreational impoundments and publicly accessible fish hatcheries
- Landscape impoundments without decorative fountains
Supply for Cooling or Air Conditioning
- Industrial or commercial cooling or air conditioning involving cooling tower, evaporative condenser, or spraying that creates a mist3
Other Uses
- Groundwater recharge (Allowed under special case-by-case permits
by RWQCBs 4)
- Flushing toilets and urinals
- Priming drain traps
- Industrial process water that may contact workers
- Structural fire fighting
- Decorative fountains and water features
- Commercial laundries
- Consolidation of backfill material around potable water pipelines
- Artificial snow making for commercial outdoor uses
- Commercial car washes not done by hand & excluding the general public from washing process
- Industrial boiler feed
- Nonstructural fire fighting
- Backfill consolidation around nonpotable piping
- Soil compaction
- Mixing concrete
- Dust control on roads and streets
- Cleaning roads, sidewalks and outdoor work areas
- Flushing sanitary sewers
1 Refer to the full text of the latest version of Title-22: California Water Recycling Criteria. This chart is only a guide to the September 1998 version.
2 With "conventional tertiary treatment." Additional monitoring for two years or more is necessary with direct filtration.
3 Drift Eliminators and/or biocides are required if public or employees can be exposed to mist.
4 Refer to Groundwater Recharge Guidelines, California Department of Public Health.