Recycling may be key

The idea of using treated wastewater for irrigation in at least eight cities in Salt Lake County is one step closer to fruition.

"It's a resource right now that is being wasted," said Riverton city administrator Mark Cram.

A recent study is helping the Association of South Valley Communities consider the feasibility of water reuse in Bluffdale, Draper, Herriman, Midvale, Riverton, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan and parts of Salt Lake County.

Combined, those areas generate about 27 million gallons of wastewater each day — most of which ends up in the Jordan River after it's treated at the South Valley Water Reclamation Facility. West Jordan contributes the most — more than 7 million gallons a day — to that total, followed by Sandy, South Jordan and Draper.

"It's an opportunity," Cram said, "to capture another resource and utilize it so we can continue to preserve culinary water sources."

A few cities like Riverton, for example, already have secondary systems in place that could pipe the treated wastewater to individual users. A lot of current secondary users in the valley may get untreated water collected from canyon runoff.

Pipes carrying the treated or "recycled" water would be specially colored to avoid confusion with culinary — drinkable — water lines.

But don't expect a broad-reaching system for recycled water any time soon.

"I don't think it will get off the ground for a while," said Hugh Hedges, acting general manager for the South Valley Facility.

One thing that still may need study is how much actual impact a significant decrease in the flow of treated wastewater will have on the Jordan River's ecosystem.

Beyond that, If people can purchase culinary water cheaper than recycled water, they'll irrigate their lawns with culinary supplies, Hedges said.

But with finite water supplies and droughts that come and go, "Somewhere down the road there's a need for it," Hedges said.

And how safe is the water?

"It's a better quality of water than you might find in Utah Lake or Lake Powell," Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility general manager Reed Fisher said of the treated wastewater, also called effluent. But to err on the safe side, Fisher doesn't advise spending much time in the stuff, much less drinking it.