Reasons Against Recycled Water

Contamination

• Recycled water has already been used once, often for sewage. This means that there have been particles of human waste, bacteria and even chemicals in the water. If not removed completely, these contaminants can cause a number of health problems and concerns. One issue is that prescription drugs that have been taken by people and then passed into the sewage system can be very difficult to remove from water when purifying it during the recycling process.

Cost

• Recycling water properly involves removing all potential contaminants from the water. There are a number of different substances that contaminate clean water after it has been used by people and machines, run through the sewers and drainage systems and then sent to a water recycling facility. Removing all these contaminants is not only challenging, it is a time consuming, high-energy process that may make recycling water too expensive to be a practical option for many communities and individuals.

Legal Issues

• Depending on the area where you live and the laws that are in place, recycling water may be illegal. Water usage and contamination laws have been passed to protect consumers and the environment against accidental harm stemming from contaminated water. In some cases, if you recycle water improperly or re-do your plumbing to enable you to recycle "gray water" - water from bathtub drains and other non-sewage household plumbing - you may face fines resulting from environmental contamination and code laws.

Lack of Long Term Research

• While there are studies currently being conducted, the truth of the matter is that no one really knows the long term effects of recycled water or the processes that are used to recycle water on human beings or the environment, at time of publication. There is always the possibility that the processes being used to remove the contamination from water or the failure to fully remove the contamination from recycled water may have long term negative side effects.