Summary of Georgia’s Water Reuse Guideline or Regulation for Onsite Non-potable Water Reuse
This page is part of the EPA’s REUSExplorer tool, which summarizes the different state level regulations or guidelines for water reuse for a variety of sources and end-uses.
The source water for this summary is Onsite Collected Waters.
On this page:
- Technical basis
- Types of onsite non-potable reuse approved for use in Georgia
- Water reuse category/type
- Additional context and definitions
- Onsite non-potable reuse specifications (table)
- Upcoming state law or policy
- References
- Disclaimer
This page is a summary of the state’s water reuse law or policy and is provided for informational purposes only. Please always refer to the state for the most accurate and updated information.
In Georgia, onsite non-potable water reuse The use of treated onsite collected waters for non-potable purposes at the single-building or district scale. This reuse application excludes the use of recycled water from a centralized treatment and distribution system for landscape irrigation or commercial uses. applications include toilet flushing and subsurface irrigation. The source of water onsite collected waters Water sources generated within or surrounding a building, residence, or district. Other terms referring to this source of water include onsite collected stormwater or rainwater, greywater, blackwater, air conditioning condensate, and foundation water. is specified by the state as gray water. The write-up uses state terms when discussing sources or uses of water that may differ from the Regulations and End-Use Specifications Explorer's (REUSExplorer's) terms.
Check out Georgia's other onsite non-potable water reuse summary!
State requirements for water quality and treatment are often associated with the source water. Georgia has an onsite non-potable water reuse summary page where the source water is rainwater collected onsite.
Technical basis
Georgia approves the onsite non-potable reuse of gray water for toilet flushing and subsurface irrigation (Georgia DNR, 2009). All applicable provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.), including its implementing regulations, must be met in addition to any state water quality standards. After gray water treatment, total coliform bacteria should be reduced to 500 CFU/100 mL or less. Fecal coliform levels should be less than 100 CFU/100 mL (Georgia DNR, 2009). The technical basis for the derivation of indicator benchmarks is not explicitly specified. The technical basis for the rainwater filtration and disinfection requirements is not explicitly specified.
Types of onsite non-potable reuse approved for use in Georgia
Georgia DNR (2009) defines the following approved onsite non-potable reuse applications of gray water:
- Toilet flushing,
- Subsurface irrigation.
Water reuse category/type
Georgia does not assign treated gray water used for onsite non-potable reuse to a category or class.
Additional context and definitions
The respective treatment requirements for gray water and rainwater are briefly summarized for onsite non-potable reuse applications:
- Gray water treatment must include filtration, disinfection and dyeing. The state guidelines indicate that several methods of treating gray water are available and the type of treatment required is determined by the quality of the incoming graywater, the end use and the degree of maintenance desired by the system user.
- Gray water is defined as “wastewater discharged from lavatory faucets, bathtubs, showers, clothes washers and laundry trays” and gray water systems refer to “the recycling of gray water for flushing toilets and/or urinals or for subsurface irrigation in order to conserve water” (Georgia DNR, 2009). Georgia DNR uses “gray water” interchangeably with “graywater”, “greywater” and “grey water”.
Onsite non-potable reuse specifications
Summary of Georgia's Non-potable Reuse Specifications
| Recycled Water Class/Category | Source Water Type | Water Quality Parameter | Specification | Sampling/Monitoring Requirements (Frequency of monitoring; site/ location of sample; quantification methods) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Onsite non-potable gray water systems (toilet flushing, subsurface irrigation) |
Gray water |
Turbidity |
10 NTU |
Not specified |
|
Total coliform |
500 CFU/100 mL |
|||
|
Fecal coliform |
100 CFU/100 mL |
Sources = Georgia DNR, 2009.
Upcoming state law or policy
No upcoming onsite non-potable reuse regulations were found for Georgia.
References:
Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR). 2009. Georgia Gray Water Recycling Systems Guidelines.
Please contact us at waterreuse@epa.gov if the information on this page needs updating or if this state is updating or planning to update its laws and policies and we have not included that information on the news page.