photo credit: Courtesy of the Town of Windsor

Water savings - it’s a necessity during this time of drought. Starting Wednesday, July 20th, Windsor residents will have a new opportunity to use recycled water.

Permit purgatory had long put the kibosh on recycled water use for many Windsor residents. Thanks to a recent change in the Windsor’s state-level water permitting though, residents can now access recycled water, up to 300 gallons at a time, for irrigation use.

Shannon Cotulla, Windsor’s Public Works Director, said the water is recycled from the city’s regular use.

"The potable water that is used in our businesses and residents in the community, their waste water comes to our water reclamation facility and it goes through a multi-step treatment process." Cotulla said. "And it is ultimately generated as effluent and recycled water, which is then available for reuse."

The program fill station is at Keiser Park on Windsor River Road.

Mike Cave, with Windsor’s operations department, said interested residents can easily register for the program.

"So it's a single page application, essentially." Cave said. "It would be the end user, the address and the approximate area that they would like to use the recycled water in. They can apply online right now in advance, and that's about it. We'll give them site supervisor training, the do's and don't s with their recycled water."

The only notable concern from the recycled water use is runoff, which Cave said is a non-issue.

"We don't foresee anyone with runoff." Cave said. "We don't have that situation going on now with folks that haven't directly plumbed to their home."

While he couldn’t provide an estimate for water savings from the program, Cotulla said Windsor residents have been meeting voluntary water reduction goals so far.

"Currently, the town of Windsor has declared a level two water shortage emergency, which means we're requiring the community to reduce their potable water consumption by 20%." Cotulla said. "And folks have been achieving that very effectively. And we're really pleased."

The recycled water program opens on July 20th, residents can find more information at townofwindsor.com.