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Irrigating edible plants with non-potable water #813260
Asked October 05, 2022, 12:09 PM EDT
Washington County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi - Sorry for the delayed response. This project is in the City of Beaverton, Washington County. It's a first of its kind project where the City is treating stormwater collected from one of its residential neighborhoods during the winter period, and then storing it in the aquifer via a well. It will be later pumped back from the aquifer and put into a "purple pipe" distribution system as nonpotable water for irrigation use to water parks, parking strips and residential lots. So the irrigation source water is not reclaimed wastewater, but it's also technically not groundwater. To meet DEQ anti-degradation requirements, the treated stormwater is treated to as good or better than native groundwater. We aren't aware of explicit water quality requirements or rules that apply to this application, but because the source water should be as good or better than native groundwater, the risk of someone using the irrigation water for edible garden plants should not be any greater than using native groundwater. So my question is if OSU extension has any knowledge of rules that may apply and/or you know of similar applications that are currently in use? Thank you.
Although their task is to prevent the reverse from happening, I suspect that they are conversant with food safety issues. Good luck!