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COLORADO WA"':t:R~USE public supply! 2.7% / /' t rural and>-::O-~: ~ irrigatiorl!79.3% ./' '3 / indu.s~rial/a~/ c mlnlng:..~)'o 2, '3 other - (reserved, con;l~s, evaporation) 14.0D(0 \,_./ Water Supply Natural factors determine the am'ount of water available; man takes It from there. Man's laws govern who shall have control over that available water. Man's technology provides methods of augmenting the supply in a particular location. This may be by re-uslng the present supply by increasing water use efficiency, or by diverting the water from basin of origin to an area with higher economic priorities. RECYCLING Reuse or artificial recycling of water takes several forms. Water may be pumped from a well or stream bed and used for municipal, industrial or agricultural purposes. A city water supply moves from treatment plant to consumer, then from consumer through the waste water collection system to the sewage treatment facility which discharges the treated waste water into a stream bed. This effluent mingles with water already flowing there and moves along 'until another user downstream removes the once-used water and the cycle is repeated. Fortunately time and natural processes have some purifying effect on the water as it is carried in the stream or percolates through layers of soii, sand and rock. Similar patterns are seen in industrial use, .... TI'leWafefsupplYaraffiariUfiiCiiJnni;f/5iiiilfmay"&;'..... used for cooling purposes, and it must then be cooled before discharge or the heated water will raise the temperature of the receiving stream and affect the plant or fish life of the stream. Or industrial water may be used directly, in a process such as washing ore or equipment or it may combine with other materials as part of the manufacturing process. Some of the newer industrial plants are operating with closed water systems. That is, the plant brings in the amount of water needed but does not discharge waste water. Instead the water is used, treated and reused; or the waste water is disposed of in large evapora- tion lagoons so the water is recycled naturally. Agricultural water comes from streams, wells, storage reservoirs or by direct precipitation. Water applied to crops partially soaks into the ground where it enters the supply of sub-surface moisture called groundwater. However, a high percentage of this water will evaporate direclly from the soii or ditch, or will enter the atmosphere by transpiration from plant surfaces. Surplus water becomes runoff and drains away into the stream beds. This runoff water {as well as the groundwate" will contain a variety of materials including fertilizers, pesticides, and natural salts leached from the soil. The receiving body of water is thus polluted. Recycling also inciudes the treatment of .......waste...water".fQlO,donlesIic.reuse....IR,.1984,~". completed a one million gallon-a-day plant to demonstrate the quality, reliability, and economics of reuse on a large scale, Whiie the plant treats waste water to the. highest potable standards, it will not be added to Denver's municipal supplies untii stringent tests have been completed. Quality assurance will be observed during the first fIVe years of operation by analyzing 200,000 samples of water for over 200 possible contaminants, The Environmental Protection Agency along with the Denver Water Department is helping to fund and direct the health effects studies and research. _21