Reuse Is Becoming Part of the Water Supply
Water reuse isn’t one kind of project. Communities use reclaimed water for purposes ranging from irrigation to drinking water, while manufacturers may treat and reuse process water onsite. The treatment and infrastructure depend on the water source and its intended use, but these projects share a practical goal: making more use of water that is already available. The numbers below show how reuse is taking shape across U.S. communities and industries, with a site-level example from Great Exuma in the Bahamas.
In This Article
Reuse Is Already Part of the U.S. Water Infrastructure
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than 500 facilities in the United States recycle water to meet community needs. That figure represents a range of projects, not one standard treatment process or end use. Municipal wastewater, stormwater, and industrial process water can all be treated for reuse, with treatment tailored to the source water and its intended use. The level of treatment also depends on how people may be exposed to the water and which standards apply.
Communities Reuse Water for Different Needs
Community reuse spans nonpotable applications, such as irrigation, and potable uses, including drinking water supply.
In 2025, Florida reused approximately 1,029 million gallons per day of reclaimed water for beneficial purposes. Reclaimed water from public-access systems irrigated 631,795 residences, 1,110 parks, 547 golf courses, and 429 schools. Those uses accounted for about 58% of the total reclaimed water reused in Florida. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection estimates that the 906 MGD included in its offset and recharge calculations avoided more than 175.5 billion gallons of potable-quality water use and added more than 119 billion gallons to available groundwater supplies.
Potable reuse can include indirect potable reuse or direct potable reuse. Indirect potable reuse uses an environmental buffer, such as an aquifer or reservoir, before the water receives further treatment for drinking. Direct potable reuse sends appropriately treated water into a drinking water system without an environmental buffer. According to the EPA, more than 70 drinking water reuse projects across the United States serve more than 8 million people per day.
Industry Is Expanding Reuse
Manufacturing, food processing, data centers, and energy production can all offer opportunities for water reuse. Toyota’s Texas manufacturing plant uses about 1 million gallons of recycled water per day. At Simplot’s potato-processing plant in Caldwell, Idaho, treatment systems process 2.3 million gallons of water per day, with about 1 million gallons available for onsite reuse. Together, these projects show how reuse can support manufacturing in different ways: recycled water can be supplied to a plant, while process water can be treated for onsite reuse. Similar opportunities may exist at semiconductor, data center, and power generation facilities, where onsite reuse can reduce freshwater demand and, depending on site design, the need to convey water over long distances.
400,000 GPD of Wastewater Treatment Capacity at Great Exuma
At Sandals Emerald Bay, desalinated seawater supplies potable water while treated wastewater is reused for golf-course irrigation.
On Great Exuma in the Bahamas, freshwater is limited, and untreated or inadequately treated wastewater can threaten the surrounding waters and beaches that support tourism.
At the Sandals resort on Great Exuma in the Bahamas, a Seven Seas Water Group project has the capacity to treat up to 400,000 GPD (1,515 m3/d) of resort wastewater, while a separate desalination plant provides potable water. The reclaimed wastewater is used to irrigate the golf course, reducing freshwater consumption while protecting the surrounding waters from pollution.
What’s Next for Water Reuse?
As manufacturing, data center, and energy needs grow, more communities and industries are evaluating reclaimed water as one source in their water supply plans.
On April 16, 2026, the EPA launched its Water Reuse Action Plan 2.0, which emphasizes reuse for industrial and manufacturing uses, technology, including data centers, and energy. The U.S. Department of Energy is also supporting industrial water reuse through the National Alliance for Water Innovation and its Better Plants Industrial Water Reuse Webinar Series.
The examples above show that reuse depends on matching a wastewater source to a real demand, then providing treatment and delivery infrastructure suited to that use. Water that works for irrigation may not meet industrial or drinking water requirements, so each project needs to be evaluated around its source water, intended use, and applicable standards. For a given site, where could appropriately treated reclaimed water serve a need now met with potable-quality or freshwater supplies?
Explore Seven Seas’ water reuse solutions, including its Water-as-a-Service® delivery approach. Our team can help assess reuse opportunities based on wastewater characteristics, required water quality, and intended use.
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