Water reuse is an effective solution to reduce overall water use. This utilizes wastewater from a process as the water source for another process without the need for treatment. The quality of this wastewater and requirements for reuse are key factors that will dictate if and where the process wastewater can be reused.
Water recycling is an effective solution to reduce overall water use. If industrial wastewater does not meet the quality requirements to be reused in production processes, it can be treated (either chemically or biologically) to meet the required quality specifications and be recycled. The quality of the wastewater and the level of treatment that can be achieved are key factors that will dictate if and where the wastewater can be recycled for use again in the facility.
Recycled industrial wastewater is defined as process wastewater that has been treated (using physical, chemical, and/or any additional treatment processes) to meet a quality that allows the water to be used again in a production process. (For example, wastewater that has gone through a membrane filtration process and is used back in industrial operations is considered recycled water. This does not include water cycled in operations such as cooling towers and non-contact heat exchange operations or water that is recycled and used for domestic uses such as landscape irrigation.)
Recycled domestic wastewater is defined as domestic wastewater that has been treated (using physical, chemical, and/or any additional treatment processes) to meet a quality that allows the water to be used again for domestic uses such as landscape irrigation, and toilets.