Decatur, GA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Sec. 3 of Decatur's Unified Development Ordinance is the City's outdoor watering ordinance, and it treats recycled water sources differently from potable irrigation. m. 2 and applicable local board of health regulations, and use of reclaimed wastewater by a designated user from a system permitted by the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to provide reclaimed wastewater. A property irrigating with gray water or EPD-permitted reclaimed wastewater can water at any hour without running afoul of the ordinance. The exemption list also covers capture and reuse of cooling system condensate or stormwater in compliance with local ordinances and state guidelines, which functions alongside the gray water and reclaimed wastewater carve-outs to encourage non-potable irrigation sources generally.

Enforcement runs through Sec. C, which authorizes sworn public safety officers, the building official, or a codes enforcement officer to enforce the watering-hours restriction; Sec. B makes it unlawful for any person to use or allow the use of water in violation of the restriction. Because the exemptions are drafted around compliance with the cited state statute and state EPD permitting, a resident or business relying on gray water or reclaimed wastewater still needs to meet those state requirements to keep the local exemption. This is a City of Decatur ordinance; DeKalb County's water restrictions, where they apply, are separate and govern unincorporated Decatur-addressed properties outside the city limits.