Summary of Pennsylvania's Water Reuse Guideline or Regulation for Potable Water Reuse
This page is part of the EPA’s REUSExplorer tool, which summarizes the different state level regulations or guidelines for water reuse for a variety of sources and end-uses.
The source water for this summary is Treated Municipal Wastewater.
On this page:
- Technical basis
- Types of planned potable reuse approved for use in Pennsylvania
- Water reuse treatment category type
- Potable reuse specifications (table)
- Upcoming state law or policy
- References
- Disclaimer
This page is a summary of the state’s water reuse law or policy and is provided for informational purposes only. Please always refer to the state for the most accurate and updated information.
In Pennsylvania, potable water reuse The use of highly treated recycled water for drinking water purposes. This reuse application includes both indirect potable reuse through introduction of recycled water into an environmental buffer such as a surface reservoir or groundwater aquifer, and direct potable reuse through introduction of recycled water into a drinking water system. applications include indirect potable reuse (surface water spreading and groundwater recharge). The source of water treated municipal wastewater Treated wastewater effluent discharged from a centralized wastewater treatment plant of any size. Other terms referring to this source of water include domestic wastewater, treated wastewater effluent, reclaimed water, and treated sewage. is specified by the state as municipal wastewater. The write-up uses state terms when discussing sources or uses of water that may differ from the Regulations and End-Use Specifications Explorer's (REUSExplorer's) terms.
Technical basis
Potable water in the United States must meet all applicable Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements, including its implementing regulations (40 C.F.R. § 141) for chemical and microbial contaminants and pollutant discharges from a point source for surface water augmentation require a federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) permit (40 C.F.R. § 122). Pennsylvania does not have state statutes or regulations that specifically address the reuse of treated wastewater, however, water reuse in Pennsylvania is implemented through the technical guidance manual and Water Quality Management permits (Pennsylvania DEP, 2012). If the reclaimed water is used for direct injection, certain requirements of EPA’s Underground Injection Control Program (U.S. EPA, 2021) may need to be met. Additionally, Pennsylvania indirect potable reuse guidelines require specific treatment requirements, which vary by the class of reclaimed water.
For chemicals, Pennsylvania reuse guidelines require class A+ finished water meet a less than 1 mg/L total organic carbon (TOC) concentration. The guidelines require that class A reclaimed water have less than 10 mg/L total organic carbon (TOC) concentration. The technical basis for the removal of microbial and chemical contaminants is not explicitly specified.
Types of planned potable reuse approved for use in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania DEP (2012) defines the following approved planned potable uses:
- Indirect potable reuse
- Surface water spreading (Class A) – augmentation or recharge to potable (or non-potable) water aquifers via surface spreading.
- Groundwater recharge
- Direct injection (Class A+) – augmentation or recharge to potable (or non-potable) water aquifers, or salt water intrusion barriers.
Water reuse treatment category/type
The various classes of reclaimed water are defined by their respective treatment requirements and applicable performance standards. Treatment requirements for various classes of water for indirect potable reuse applications include:
- For Class A reclaimed water, the minimum treatment is secondary treatment, nitrification, denitrification, filtration and disinfection. Reclaimed water should be retained underground for a minimum of 9 months prior to withdrawal in aquifers used as drinking water sources (Pennsylvania DEP, 2012).
- In cases where UV light is used for disinfection, a dose of ≥100 mJ/cm2 is required.
- In cases where chlorine is used for disinfection, a total chlorine residual of at least 1.0 mg/L should be maintained for a minimum contact time of 30 minutes at design average flow.
- For Class A+ reclaimed water, the minimum treatment is secondary treatment, nitrification, denitrification, coagulation, filtration, reverse osmosis treatment, disinfection and any other advanced treatment processes necessary to meet standards (listed in table, Summary of Pennsylvania’s Potable Reuse Specifications). Reclaimed water should be retained underground for a minimum of 12 months prior to withdrawal in aquifers used as drinking water sources (Pennsylvania DEP, 2012).
- In cases where UV light is used for disinfection, a dose of ≥50 mJ/cm2 is required.
- In cases where chlorine is used for disinfection, a total chlorine residual of at least 1.0 mg/L should be maintained for a minimum contact time of 30 minutes at design average flow.
Potable reuse specifications
Summary of Pennsylvania's Potable Reuse Specifications
| Recycled Water Class/Category | Source Water Type | Water Quality Parameter | Specification | Sampling/Monitoring Requirements (Frequency of monitoring; site/ location of sample; quantification methods) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Class A+ Reclaimed Water |
Municipal wastewater |
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) |
<2 mg/L (monthly average) 5 mg/L (maximum) |
Monitoring 2/week |
|
Total organic carbon (TOC) |
< 1 mg/L |
Monitoring 2/week |
||
|
Turbidity |
≤ 0.3 NTU (monthly average) 1 NTU (maximum) |
Continuous monitoring |
||
|
Fecal coliform |
<2.2 organisms per 100 mL (monthly average) 23 organisms per 100 mL (maximum) |
Monitoring 2/week |
||
|
Total organic halides (TOX) |
<0.2 mg/L (monthly average) |
Monitoring 2/week |
||
|
Total nitrogen |
<10 mg/L (monthly average) |
Monitoring 2/week |
||
|
All other primary and secondary drinking water contaminants |
See SDWA regulations (40 C.F.R. § 141) |
Quarterly monitoring |
||
|
UV light design doseb |
≥ 50 mJ/cm2 |
Continuous monitoring of lamp intensity, UV transmittance and flow rate |
||
|
Class A Reclaimed Water |
Municipal wastewater |
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) |
<2 mg/L (monthly average) 5 mg/L (maximum) |
Weekly monitoring |
|
Total organic carbon (TOC) |
<10 mg/L |
Weekly monitoring |
||
|
Turbidity |
≤ 2 NTU (monthly average) 5 NTU (maximum) |
Continuous monitoring |
||
|
Fecal coliform |
<2.2 organisms per 100 mL (monthly average) 23 organisms per 100 mL (maximum) |
Monitoring 2/week |
||
|
Total organic halides (TOX) |
<0.2 mg/L (monthly average) |
Weekly monitoring |
||
|
Total nitrogen |
<10 mg/L (monthly average) |
Weekly monitoring |
||
|
All other primary and secondary drinking water contaminants |
See SDWA regulations (40 C.F.R. § 141) |
Quarterly monitoring |
||
|
Total chlorine residuala |
≥1.0 mg/L (maintained for a minimum contact time of 30 minutes at design average flow) >0.02 mg/L (at the point of reuse application) |
Continuous on-line monitoring |
||
|
UV light design doseb |
≥ 100 mJ/cm2 (for granular media filtration) ≥ 80 mJ/cm2 (for porous membrane filtration) ≥ 50 mJ/cm2 (for semi-permeable membrane filtration) |
Continuous monitoring of lamp intensity, UV transmittance and flow rate |
Sources = Pennsylvania DEP, 2012.
a Only applies if chlorine was used for disinfection.
b Only applies if UV light was used for disinfection.
Upcoming state law or policy
No upcoming potable reuse regulations were noted for Pennsylvania.
References:
EPA-Administered Permit Programs: The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, 40 C.F.R. § 122.
National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, 40 C.F.R. § 141.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). 2012. Point and Nonpoint Source Management. Reuse of treated wastewater guidance manual 385-2188-002.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). 2021. Protecting Underground Sources of Drinking Water from Underground Injection (UIC).
Please contact us at [email protected] if the information on this page needs updating or if this state is updating or planning to update its laws and policies and we have not included that information on the news page.