Summary of North Carolina's Water Reuse Guideline or Regulation for 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 Treated Municipal Wastewater.
On this page:
- Technical basis
- Types of planned potable reuse approved for use in North Carolina
- Water reuse treatment category/type
- Potable reuse specifications
- 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 North Carolina, potable water reuse The use of highly treated recycled water for drinking water purposes. This reuse application includes both indirect potable reuse through introduction of recycled water into an environmental buffer such as a surface reservoir or groundwater aquifer, and direct potable reuse through introduction of recycled water into a drinking water system. applications include indirect potable reuse (supplementing water supply). The source of water treated municipal wastewater Treated wastewater effluent discharged from a centralized wastewater treatment plant of any size. Other terms referring to this source of water include domestic wastewater, treated wastewater effluent, reclaimed water, and treated sewage. is specified by the state as municipal wastewater. 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.
Technical basis
Potable water in the United States must meet all applicable Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements, including its implementing regulations (40 C.F.R. § 141) for chemical and microbial contaminants and pollutant discharges from a point source for surface water augmentation require a federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) permit (40 C.F.R. § 122). North Carolina approves the use of the “highest reclaimed water effluent standards established by the Commission” as a source water for drinking water treatment plants in a way that is “both environmentally acceptable and protective of public health” (N.C. Gen. Stat. §143-355.5). While the state statute indicates indirect potable reuse is approved in North Carolina, there was no reference to potable reuse in the North Carolina state regulation for reclaimed water (15A N.C. Admin. Code 02U). A local water system can combine reclaimed water with other raw water sources before treatment if several conditions are satisfied, such as “the reclaimed water and source water are combined in a pretreatment mixing basin owned and controlled by the drinking water supplier from which water is pumped to the water treatment plant and the pretreatment mixing basin is sized to hold a minimum volume corresponding to five days storage at the authorized operating capacity of the water treatment plant under normal operating conditions.” (N.C. Gen. Stat. §143-355.5). The technical basis for these required conditions is not explicitly specified.
Types of planned potable reuse approved for use in North Carolina
N.C. Gen. Stat. §143-355.5 defines the following approved planned potable uses:
- Indirect Potable Reuse: “supplementing the water supply source for potable water”.
Water reuse treatment category/type
The “highest reclaimed water effluent standards established by the Commission” are required for indirect potable reuse in North Carolina (N.C. Gen. Stat. §143-355.5).
Potable reuse specifications
North Carolina does not have additional specifications for indirect potable reuse.
Upcoming state law or policy
No upcoming potable reuse regulations were found for North Carolina.
References:
EPA-Administered Permit Programs: The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, 40 C.F.R. § 122.
National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, 40 C.F.R. § 141.
Reclaimed Water, 15A N.C. Admin. Code 02U.
Reclaimed Water Systems, 15A N.C. Admin. Code § 02T.0901.
Water Resources, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-38.
Water Reuse; Policy; Rulemaking, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-355.5 (2022).
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.