WATER INDUSTRY FEATURES, INSIGHTS, AND ANALYSIS

DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS

Real-Time Water Quality Data For Agriculture

We arm farmers with mission-critical water data to help enhance crop yield and taste. KETOS delivers valuable insights for fluctuations in deficiency and toxicity.

GettyImages-1365695094 water in hands
Water Reuse: Solutions For Sustainability, Efficiency, And Resilient Water Systems

What is water reuse?

Water reuse is the process of treating and reclaiming water from various sources for practical purposes, including groundwater recharge, industrial applications, wetland restoration, agricultural irrigation, public access area uses, as well as drinking water applications. By reusing water, communities can reduce dependence on traditional water supplies, avoid costly imported water from 3rd party providers, and improve resilience in water systems. Thanks to progress in water treatment technology, along with economic and regulatory incentives, water recycling has become a cost-effective and sustainable solution to meet the growing demand for highly treated water and overcome supply shortages during droughts.

There are three primary types of water reuse: Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR), Direct Potable Reuse (DPR), and Non-Potable. In IPR reuse systems, advanced treated water is either injected into an environmental buffer (groundwater, river, or reservoir) before being extracted again for use, whereas DPR is directly blended into the drinking water treatment plant or distribution system. Non-potable water is not intended for human consumption and can be used for irrigation, industrial processes, laundry, or toilet flushing.

Advanced treatment technologies, such as membrane filtration, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet disinfection, ozonation, and advanced oxidation processes (AOP), play a crucial role in ensuring the quality and safety of reclaimed water.

Why reuse water? 

As water scarcity continues to rise, water reuse is an essential strategy for creating a more sustainable future. The use of recycled water reduces the demand for freshwater sources, which are becoming increasingly scarce due to population growth, climate change, and other factors.

Here are some key benefits of water reuse:

  • Safeguard quality and resilience: Reused water is purified well beyond drinking water standards, improving resilience and ensuring quality for both potable and even non-potable purposes.
  • Uphold safety: Treatment processes like ozone and ultraviolet light can be used to disinfect or break down complex contaminants, ensuring water is pathogen-free and concentrations are below maximum contaminant levels (MCL).
  • Ensure cost savings and efficiency: After treating a waste stream to discharge level, it may require less treatment to bring it to reuse standards, making reuse not only environmentally responsible but also cost-effective in many scenarios and locations.
  • Conserve traditional water supplies: By reusing water, we can lessen our reliance on conventional water resources like rivers, lakes, and aquifers, thereby conserving them for future generations.
  • Reduce carbon footprint: Water reclamation is often more efficient than treating a raw water resource, which can lessen environmental impact.
  • Enable versatility and customization: Advanced treatment systems are tailored to meet specific needs for a variety of sectors, including industrial, urban, agricultural, and public access area uses.

How to reuse water 

The major aim of every reuse project is to minimize human health risk associated with the use or consumption of reclaimed water. While the exact treatment requirements depend upon the source water quality and the reuse purpose, to be cost-effective, the treatment must be energy efficient and have a high-water yield.

An adequate treatment design plan depends on the application the water will be used in. In non-potable applications, normally filtration and disinfection will suffice, while potable reuse generally requires a combination of advanced treatment processes such as membrane filtration, reverse osmosis, disinfection, and/or advanced oxidation.

Xylem has brands and solutions to fit every stage of the water reuse process: 

  • beginning with the transport of raw sewage and wastewater with Xylem brands like Flygt
     
  • to secondary treatment to remove most dissolved and suspended organic matter and nutrients with brands like Sanitaire and Envirex
  • to tertiary stages that remove residual particulate matter, nutrients, TDS, and nematode eggs with brands like Leopold and Davco
  • along with disinfection and advanced oxidation that inactivates pathogens, and breaks down trace constituents and emerging contaminants of concern with brands like Wedeco, ETS-UV, ATG UV Systems, Pacific Ozone, and Wallace & Tiernan 
  • and finally, digital solutions like YSI, OI Analytical, Xylem Vue that leverage remote monitoring, alerts, and data analytics for proactive and predictive maintenance

Based on practical knowledge from decades of combined brand experience, thousands of installations worldwide, and strengths in powerful R&D innovation, our team looks at the entire wastewater process at your plant. We will work with your consulting engineer and State regulators to integrate the right technologies to meet your intended targets. Modular design makes it easy to fit your requirements now and easily expand to meet your future needs.

Water reuse partnership 

Though Xylem has teams of specialists, years of expertise, deep understanding of water regulations, and a broad solutions portfolio, we understand the complexities of water systems and the potential to partner with various water treatment experts. Xylem has partnered with hundreds of different firms around the globe to ensure the most efficient and viable water systems for communities and municipalities.

Our goal is to thoroughly understand each project, determine the best methods, and customize optimal solutions that meet local regulations and requirements while delivering resiliency, quality, and cost savings.

Let us be your partner in making every drop count. Contact us today to discuss your project needs.

ActivatedCarbon
Emerging Pollutants: The Role Of Activated Carbons

The presence of active pharmaceutical ingredients, radio-opaque substances and endocrine disrupting chemicals in raw water sources is a relatively new emerging issue in relation to drinking water quality. However, the influence of pollutants on health and general well-being is becoming apparent with the incidence of carcinoma increasing and fertility rates being affected. A solution for the efficient removal of these substances from water use by production sites is required.

ReFleX™ Efficiency

For both disinfection and TOC-reduction applications, NeoTech Aqua Solutions’ patented ReFleX™ UV chamber technology represents the state-of-the-art in high-efficiency UV systems by reflecting over 99% of the UV we generate back into the water.

Turbidity Filtration: Turbidity Filtration Using Alum
Electromedia® V effectively filters turbid waters at 10 g.p.m. per sq. ft. to produce treated waters having turbidities less than 0.2 NTU
TrojanUVFlex -- Water Reuse & Drinking Water Disinfection System
TrojanUVFlexAOP – Advanced Oxidation System

Meeting the demand for clean water has never been more challenging. Communities around the world are facing a growing water stress – an insufficient supply, in terms of water quality or water quantity – and often both. Many are turning to potable reuse and drinking water remediation to meet these demands. The TrojanUVFlex®AOP can be part of the solution. This UV advanced oxidation system destroys a range of chemical contaminants while simultaneously providing final treatment, helping municipalities relying on lower quality water sources to continue producing high-quality potable drinking water.

VIEWS ON THE LATEST REGS

PFAS regulatory requirement-GettyImages-2220893562
EPA Seeks Court‑Ordered Removal Of 4 PFAS Limits
  • Perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA molecules-GettyImages-2179084012
    Putting The National Toxicology Program's Fluoride Review In Context
    Despite renewed public concern over fluoride and cognition, the National Toxicology Program’s findings focus on high‑fluoride groundwater conditions — not the controlled levels used in U.S. drinking water systems. Understanding that distinction is critical for utilities navigating policy questions and community expectations.
  • running faucet-GettyImages-175426122
    HAAs In The EU: Monitoring For Haloacetic Acids Under The Drinking Water Directive
    In this Q&A, Dr. Elke Süss of Metrohm addresses the urgent need for haloacetic acid testing in response to “one of the most significant updates to EU drinking water monitoring in recent years.”
  • questionmarks_Getty-1908249816
    PFAS Unpacked: Experts Answer Questions On EPA Rules, Funding, Treatment, And More
    With the U.S. EPA's PFAS rules now in place, utilities are finding themselves with a growing number of questions regarding how to treat these chemicals, the potential costs, and much more. For answers, Water Online's chief editor, Kevin Westerling, hosted an Ask Me Anything session featuring Ken Sansone, Senior Partner at SL Environmental Law Group; Kyle Thompson, National PFAS Lead at Carollo Engineers; and Lauren Weinrich, Principal Scientist at American Water.
  • 1124-Microbac_Technologies
    Monitoring Know-How For PFAS Regulations

    A Q&A to explain and resolve issues confronting water suppliers as they endeavor to comply with the monitoring requirements of federal PFAS regulations.

  • Rusty-pipe-GettyImages-186881378
    Clearing LCRI Hurdles
    Assessing what lies ahead in the 10-year race to go lead-free, otherwise known as the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI).

MORE WATER INDUSTRY FEATURES