Boca Raton, FL Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Article VII of Chapter 17, Sections 17-200 through 17-213, governs the city's reclaimed water system, known internally as Project IRIS, the in-city reclamation irrigation system. Section 17-203 makes connection mandatory, not optional, for new commercial and industrial development, golf courses and common-area owners once reclaimed service becomes available concurrent with the development, giving them 90 days from service availability to connect and start using reclaimed water; new residential developments must have connections available before a certificate of occupancy issues, but individual homeowners in existing developments may connect voluntarily.

Section 17-211(3) then lists the uses that are strictly prohibited regardless of who the consumer is: human or pet consumption; irrigating edible crops that will not be peeled, cooked or thermally processed unless a drip, ridge-and-furrow or subsurface system prevents direct contact, though direct irrigation of citrus and tobacco is allowed; filling swimming pools, hot tubs or wading pools or any recreational use involving bodily contact; washing pets, equipment, structures, driveways or vehicles; filling a tank truck for landscape irrigation; and using above-ground hose bibbs unless the utility services director approves a locked, labeled vault reading Do not drink and No beber.

Section 17-211(2) separately bans cross-connecting the reclaimed system with any other water source or using reclaimed water for potable purposes, and requires backflow devices on any potable system connected to a reclaimed line. Consumers can apply in writing to the utility services director for an exemption from the prohibited-use list. Reclaimed water rates run on a bimonthly availability fee plus a per-1,000-gallon commodity charge under Section 17-206, reviewed annually.