A Spatial Analysis to Identify Opportunities for Water Reuse in the United States
Abstract
Water scarcity is a concern across the United States and can be motivated by physical, economic, or political conditions. Unreliable water supply can directly affect the well-being of humans and the environment and threaten the production of goods and services that support the U.S. and global economy. Many partial solutions exist to provide a more reliable supply of water at an appropriate quantity and quality. Non-traditional water resources, specifically recycled water, can help offset a portion of non-potable water withdrawals in the United States. We perform a geographic analysis to identify areas of the contiguous United States that have an opportunity to benefit from non-potable water reuse, given existing demands and potential supplies. Using publicly available data, we estimate water withdrawals for irrigation, industry and manufacturing, and power generation, on multiple spatial scales, and identify existing municipal wastewater treatment plants that could supply recycled water for these end-uses. Collectively, recycled water can offset over 6 billion gallons per day of non-potable water withdrawals, and we have identified over 1,500 urban areas in the contiguous United States where all or most of their non-potable water withdrawals can be replaced with recycled water. By considering a variety of water stress metrics and existing state-level water reuse policies, we examine the context around existing or potential water reuse projects and identify factors that can motivative or hinder the development of non-potable water reuse projects.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021AGUFM.H25N1198H