Tucson leads nation in reclaimed water use
Unmute
TUCSON (KVOA) -The threat of water scarcity has driven Tucson's innovative approaches to water use.
The push toward using reclaimed water started in the 1980's, when resorts and golf courses were built. The city had recycled water, but had not used it at that point. City planners thought reclaimed water could get around groundwater restrictions at the time.
Reclaimed water makes up 10 to 15 percent of the city's total water usage. Reclaimed water is basically recycled water that goes to a wastewater treatment facility to get cleaned up and used for irrigation.
"And today, we not only provide a lot of water to golf courses, we provide a lot of water to schools to parks, a lot of roadways are irrigated with recycled water," Fernando Molina of Tucson Water said. "So it's a really big benefit for the community in terms of keeping things green."