The use of recycled water in Rancho Murieta offsets the demand for potable use. 

It also prevents the need for the District to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for disposing of treated wastewater.

Recycling of the tertiary treated wastewater effluent is mainly on the two (2) golf courses. They have a combined irrigation area of approximately 250 acres with and annual average demand of 550 acre-feet (179.2 million gallons). The District’s tertiary treatment plant typically operates annually from late April through October to produce recycled water for the golf courses irrigation needs. Should the District have an excess of recycled water, it may be delivered for use on adjacent property located at the Van Vleck Ranch.

The District stops supplying recycled water in coordination with the Rancho Murieta Country Club (RMCC) each fall per a shared Waste Discharge Requirement with the Regional Water Quality Control Board as well as when supplies are exhausted. RMCC then draws down the levels in their ponds at Holes 16 and 17 in the South and partially draws down Bass Lake and the ponds at Holes 10 and 11.  This is to keep the ponds from violating the minimum of two (2) feet from spillway maintenance requirement from the Regional Water Quality Control Board to prevent the ponds from overflowing due to storm water runoff during the rainy season.

Recycled water is distributed in a separate network of pipes that keeps reclaimed water pipes completely separate from potable water pipes. The non-potable reclaimed water is distributed in lavender (light purple) pipes or marked as RECYCLED WATER to distinguish it from potable water.