Each gallon of recycled water that is used to irrigate parks, street medians, freeway landscaping, and golf courses saves a gallon of drinking water. The city produces recycled water by boosting the treatment of wastewater with additional filtration and disinfection (to meet State of California regulations) which makes it usable for irrigation and other non-drinking purposes. A gallon of recycled water is also about 16 percent cheaper than a gallon of potable water, because the city controls the production.
**Recycled water is exempt from the drought watering restriction**
Although recycled water is a highly treated product, it is not treated to the same standards as drinking water delivered to homes and businesses. For this reason, conditions for the use of recycled water have been established. Recycled water is not suitable for drinking.
The City of Carlsbad has approximately 89 miles of recycled distribution pipeline. This distribution system currently supplies more than 955 recycled points of connection.
The sites served by recycled water include:
Recycled water is also supplied to many of the City of Carlsbad parks, median strips, shopping areas, freeway landscaping and "common areas" of many homeowner associations.
Recycled water distributed by the water district is supplied by three different sources: