You might think that if we’re going to drink recycled wastewater, we should throw as many regulations at it as possible.

But a mound of stipulations and fail-safes won’t do anyone any good if they make it too expensive, confusing or impractical to tap this renewable, relatively drought-proof water source.

Luckily, Arizona understands that you need both — rigorous standards and flexibility for how communities meet them — to make Advanced Water Purification doable all over the state.

Because that’s exactly what we need: To make this a viable option for communities all over the state.

The Department of Environmental Quality convened a group of researchers and industry experts in early 2022 to help find this critical balance.

The group analyzed reams of the latest science and public health data to help determine which pathogens and chemicals should be tested for, and when, and where in the treatment process.

The........

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