Hollywood, FL Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Chapter 52's effluent reuse program, run by the city's Utilities Director, requires large industrial and commercial users to tie into Hollywood's reclaimed water network. Under § 52.72(B)(1), any industrial or commercial property with a total irrigatable area greater than one acre, expressly including golf courses and cemeteries, must connect to the effluent reuse system when reclaimed water becomes available. Section 52.72(B)(2) defines availability precisely: water is deemed available when a distribution pipe with sufficient capacity is installed and in service within 50 feet of any property line and can be reached through a public right-of-way or recorded easement. Residential connection, addressed in § 52.72(A), is marked 'Reserved,' so the code currently imposes no mandatory hookup on single-family homes.

Once connected, use is tightly limited under § 52.73. Reclaimed water may irrigate residential lawns, golf courses, cemeteries, parks, landscaped areas and highway medians, or serve other uses the Utilities Director and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection specifically approve. It cannot be used inside any dwelling, or to fill swimming pools, hot tubs, spas or wading pools, and it cannot be applied to impervious surfaces that drain to surface waters. Within 100 feet of outdoor public eating, drinking or bathing facilities, users must run low-trajectory nozzles or another method to cut aerosol drift. The city can also impose use scheduling during shortages or peak demand under § 52.73(E).

The city owns and maintains the transmission and distribution mains in public rights-of-way; property owners maintain everything downstream of the connection point. Section 52.74(C) bars anyone from tampering with, altering, connecting to, operating valves or hydrants on, or damaging the effluent reuse system without the Utilities Director's written permission, and the Water Systems Manager polices cross-connections between reclaimed and potable mains.