Only two of 26 recommendations made in 2003 by a California recycled-water task force have been fully addressed to date, while another nine have been partially implemented.
These figures are reported in a new White Paper published by the National Water Research Institute (NWRI) and co-sponsored by WateReuse California highlighting the need for more effort in advancing the use of recycled water in the US state.
The original task force was set up by the California Department of Water Resources, State Water Control Board and Department of Public Health to determine the regulatory, economic, and societal issues affecting the implementation of water recycling projects. Its 2003 report Water Recycling 2030: Recommendations of California’s Recycled Water Task Force identified 26 issues and recommendations were made on how to best address them.
According to the NWRI White Paper, the importance of these 26 issues has changed since 2003, with the new top five priorities being:
In addition, the following five new issues were identified:
The NWRI White Paper also provides a list of recommended steps to moving forward. For example:
The NWRI White Paper was prepared by Margaret N Nellor, an environmental engineer with expertise in managing recycled water research studies. It can be downloaded at www.nwri-usa.org/epublications.htm.