Dan Scanian reports in the Jacksonville Times Union on a plan to save reclaimed water which will soon be put into place. OSFR is happy to see this improvement in water use. We need more of these desperately.
Unfortunately, the time may not be too far off when the uses of this reclaimed water will not be those listed here: golf courses, parks, highway medians, playgrounds and residential lawns, simply because there will be no water available for these luxuries.
Of the various water management districts, the St Johns uses disproportionately much more than its share, mostly for the City of Jacksonville. Likewise, a disproportionately large cone of depression drawing down the aquifer extends in all directions from the city. 
A project that will expand the use of reclaimed water by one million gallons per day in St. Johns County and help reduce nutrients flowing into the St. Johns River has been completed, according to the St. Johns River Water Management District.
Reclaimed water is waste water that has been treated to remove harmful organisms, bacteria, viruses and heavy metals so it can be reused. That water is then treated so it can be used to irrigate golf courses, parks, highway medians, playgrounds and residential properties. The project’s new water main will transport the reclaimed water to new customers in St. Johns County as well as future customers along International Golf Parkway.
The project is a cost-share partnership between St. Johns County and the district. The project will also conserve groundwater use, offset the use of freshwater for irrigation and reduce treated wastewater discharges from the Northwest Wastewater Treatment Facility into Mill Creek, a tributary of the St. Johns River. The reuse main should be in use by July.
