Opportunities and Challenges for Direct Potable Water Reuse in Arid Inland Communities

Abstract

With increasing population and development, communities worldwide face shortages of water for potable supply. A report has identified hot spots of likely conflict over water in the western United States by 2025; therefore, unexploited sources of water must be identified to reduce these problems. Direct potable reuse (DPR) is a supply-side approach that can improve sustainability and reliability of water supplies by recovering drinking water from wastewater. Most potable reuse research has focused on large, coastal communities, which have different opportunities and constraints regarding water rights, treatment technologies, regulatory considerations, and costs than inland communities in arid environments. It is concluded that the challenges associated with the coastal and inland contexts are very different, and information regarding DPR suitability generated for coastal communities may not be applicable to inland communities. This paper identifies the unique challenges associated with the technical, regulatory, and economic aspects of DPR in inland communities. More research is needed on inland DPR, and this paper highlights what would be most useful to assist inland communities in assessing the feasibility of DPR.