Water recycling and reuse is defined as the “act of processing used water and wastewater (treated or untreated) through another cycle before discharge to surface water, groundwater, or third party (in the same process, in a different process but within the same facility, or at another of the organization’s facilities.”

“Reused water is wastewater supplied to another user for further use with or without prior treatment. This excludes recycling of water within the same economic unit. Information on these flows, although potentially useful for analysis of water use efficiency, is not generally available. Reused water is considered a product when payment is made by the receiving unit.” Therefore, when possible, reused water should be reported separately from recycled water.

Water recycling and reuse refers to the total volume of water that a reporting entity recycles and/or reuses during the reporting period. Water recycling and reuse can be implemented by almost any country. This includes:

Direct reuse: An entity can reuse wastewater that is clean enough for the purpose for which it is being reused. Water can potentially be reused many times and by other entities, and this is one of the most important ways to minimize water consumption. Water can be reused for different purposes, for example: irrigation (in agriculture), heating and cooling, washing,
cleaning, pH adjustment, fire protection, and production line needs.

Treat and reuse (recycling): Sometimes wastewater cannot be directly reused; for example, because it has been polluted. To make it safe for reuse (or discharge in the environment), it would need to be treated to reduce the level of contaminants and impurities to a level that is safe for reuse. The choice of the treatment procedure depends on the quality required to reuse the water.