Water reclamation and reuse are tools we can use to manage Spokane County's wastewater resources.
Water reclamation is the process of treating municipal wastewater to create reclaimed water. Reclaimed water is the product of highly treated wastewater...water that can be reused for other purposes.
Water reuse is using reclaimed water for beneficial uses including:
Surface discharge and streamflow augmentation
Irrigation of urban greenspaces
Irrigation of agricultural land
Reuse by industries
Wetlands creation or enhancement
Saltese Flats is a local area example of a planned wetland restoration/enhancement
Currently, the Spokane County Regional Water Reclamation Facility (SCRWRF) uses nearly 100% of its Class A* reclaimed water for Spokane River streamflow augmentation. The remaining amount is used for process water and irrigation of the facility site.
Note: Class A Reclaimed water is water in which limited exposure to it does not put people at risk for health problems. More technically, it is water that, at a minimum, is at all times an oxidized, coagulated, filtered, disinfected wastewater. The wastewater shall be considered adequately disinfected if the median number of total coliform organisms in the wastewater after disinfection does not exceed 2.2 per 100 milliliters, as determined from the bacteriological results of the last 7 days for which analyses have been completed, and the number of total coliform organisms does not exceed 23 per 100 milliliters in any sample.
This Department of Ecology page, Reclaimed Water, has a great deal more information about reclaimed water.