SAN FRANCISCO, CA, June 2, 2015 -- In light of many communities turning toward water reuse and recycling as a solution to combat acute water scarcity issues, GE today released a new white paper, "Addressing Water Scarcity through Recycling and Reuse" to help governments find readily accessible information on policy options.
The white paper highlights four major water reuse policy options for governments to consider as they look for ways to expand water recycling and reuse: education and outreach, removing barriers, incentives, and mandates and regulations. "The goal of our new white paper is to help them think through their options for water recycling and reuse while providing a menu of policy options and concrete examples of how these policies are being applied around the world," said Heiner Markhoff, president and CEO, water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.
The four major water reuse policy options addressed in the white paper are:
- Education and outreach: Education and outreach are critical to advancing water recycling. Most communities with a water-recycling program have active public education programs to raise awareness and to help overcome any public concerns about the safety and quality of recycled water.
- Removing barriers: Barriers to water recycling are technological, financial and regulatory, and one of the biggest barriers is a water code that does not recognize the use of recycled water. The first steps toward breaking down barriers are to set specific quality standards for recycled water and to provide guidance on the use of the reclaimed water.
- Incentives: The most common incentive is economic, making recycled water cheaper than potable water. Other approaches are to tie water usage to conservation programs and to exempt recycled water users from many of the community’s conservation requirements.
- Mandates and regulations: Some communities facing severe water restrictions adopt laws requiring the use of recycled water. The two most common methods to mandating the use of recycled water are requirements targeting the supply of recycled water by regional or local wastewater treatment districts and requirements affecting the use of recycled water by residents or businesses.
See also:
"GE Water Business earns Safety Excellence Award for efforts at Ohio plant"
"GE, Kemira partnership to bring water technology to pulp & paper industry"
About GE Power & Water
GE Power & Water provides customers with a broad array of power generation, energy delivery and water process technologies to solve their challenges locally. Power & Water works in all areas of the energy industry including renewable resources such as wind and solar; biogas and alternative fuels; and coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy. The business also develops advanced technologies to help solve the world's most complex challenges related to water availability and quality. For more information, visit www.gepower.com.
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