As Drought Reaches Midwest, Iowa Considers First-Ever Wastewater Recharge Program

A powerful wastewater treatment practice is catching the eyes of officials in Iowa as pervasive source water scarcity reaches new regions of the country.

“Faced with less than a year’s supply of drinking water, Osceola wants state regulators to allow it to use wastewater — treated and disinfected discharge from the city’s new treatment facility — to help recharge its drought-diminished water source,” the Des Moines Register reported. “The community … would be the first in Iowa to use recycled, treated wastewater as part of its municipal supply.”