Reuse of urban wastewater has been recognized as a means to potentially alleviate watershortage problems. Despite the high potential for the reclamation of urban wastewater, fewcountries have implemented processes to utilize this resource. The Banner Bank Building indowntown Boise, Idaho is an eleven story commercial office building which has been awardedplatinum status by the U.S. Green Building Council under its Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. A key reason for this recognitionis the innovative implementation of an on-site water reuse system, which treats storm water andgrey water for reuse in lavatories in lieu of potable drinking water. This water reuse system hasaided in reducing the building’s consumption of treated potable water by 60 to 80% compared tooffice buildings of similar size and use. We have been granted access to the reuse system, itsplans and schematics, system design, and points-of-use for the purpose of sampling andanalyzing water quality within the reuse system. The goal was to evaluate water quality of thereuse system in comparison to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) primary andsecondary drinking water standards. For example, turbidity met primary drinking standards in88.6% of the samples analyzed. Here, we discuss the results of our nine month sampling andrecommend possible system upgrades to provide further utility of urban wastewater reuse.
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