Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (our Water Sources): Water

Conservation and Reuse Grants

By Christina Burchette

Recycling isn't just for paper and

plastic-did you know that there are ways to recycle resources like water too? This practice is
especially relevant and useful in places that have a long history of water scarcity.

From the Dust Bowl of the 1930s to the present, the United States has experienced significant
periods of drought, so finding ways to conserve the available water supply and safely recycle it has
already been a regional priority. However, the continued threat of water scarcity has consequences
ranging from locally mandated water conservation and use restrictions, to increased food prices, to
more severe wildfires-making new solutions and strategies all the more important to the health of
local communities, ecosystems, and economies.

That's why EPA is helping drought-prone areas achieve water supply resiliency by researching new
ways to recycle and conserve water while also understanding how these conservation and reuse
efforts affect ecological and human health.

Recently, EPA awarded Science to Achieve Results grants to five institutions that are researching
the human and ecological health impacts associated with water reuse, reclaimed water applications,
and conservation practices. Each institution is investigating different aspects of water reuse and
their effects on the environment and public health. Researchers will measure and evaluate the
impact of water conservation strategies, such as

direct potable reuse, which is the process of reusing treated wastewater as drinking water

without an environmental buffer;

indirect potable reuse, where recycled water is blended with a natural water source to be
treated for use as drinking water;
aquifer recharge, where sites are constructed to collect stormwater so that it can infiltrate
back into the ground; and
agricultural water reuse, which is when treated wastewater is used to fertilize and irrigate
crops.

The frequency, intensity, and duration of drought events only continues to increase as we see the
impacts of climate change. This pattern is expected to continue and shift outside of historical trends,
making forecasting our water supply and quality more difficult.

This STAR grant research will help us better understand the potential impacts of water recycling
and conservation. The results will also help inform water utilities, communities, agricultural
producers, and policy makers, and others with the information and solutions they need to make
informed water management decisions, thereby helping drought impacted communities create
healthy and sustainable water supplies.

To learn more about these grants, see the press release and visit the grant page.

About the Author: Christina Burchette is an Oak Ridge Associated Universities contractor and
writer for the science communication team in EPA's Office of Research and Development.