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/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / MARCH 2016
W
ould it surprise you to know that let-
ting a faucet run for five minutes
coffee and simply to clean your car. The trendy
topic of water reuse is often focused on popula-
tion growth and the desire to avoid paying for wa-
ter to irrigate landscape, but it just may be that our
focus should instead be driven by the energy and
associated cost to create the clean water we use for
everything from drinking to watering a lawn.
Water, unlike electricity, is not something we can
create within the boundary of a property to support
the demands of a facility. It can be captured and
controlled, but within the state of Colorado, owners
are informed that without water rights, they do not
have the authority to capture and use water that
falls within their property. Within Colorado, water
is owned, like land. It can be purchased, sold, trans-
ferred and conveyed separately from the property
onto which it falls.
A longstanding Colorado statute stipulates that
all moisture that falls or is induced to fall with-
in the state of Colorado is owned by the state. This
water is then distributed to those who hold water
rights through a system of prior appropriation,
which, in simple terms, is a first-in–time, first-in-
right ownership. In other words, whoever claimed
or purchased the water rights first has the highest
priority to use and even sell that water.
The current model of urban water distribution
begins with the capture of stormwater in reservoirs.
This water is treated and introduced into the water
system, and users of this water are allowed a single
beneficial use (whether it is to shower, clean or ir-
rigate). The water is then released into the sanitary
sewer system, where it is again treated prior to re-
lease for use by others.
This means for every one-time use, we must sup-
ply the effort and energy to treat the water twice.
This is true whether it is for drinking water, clean-
ing, showering or irrigation. To address this chal-
lenge, many water districts are working to expand
the nonpotable water system for irrigation de-
mands, but what if we were to further the effort to
both expand the use of nonpotable water as well as
allow private developments to implement on-site
greywater and stormwater reuse systems for irri-
gation? The avoidance of dual treatment and the
Matthew B.
Schlageter, PE
Principal,
Martin/
Martin Inc.
TRENDS
in Water Reuse
