Pasadena, CA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

11, adopted by Ordinance No. 7281 in 2016, defines 'recycled water' as water that results from treating wastewater to a standard suitable for direct beneficial use under Title 17 and Title 22, Division 4 of the California Code of Regulations, and folds it into the broader category of 'non-potable water' alongside untreated tunnel water and raw Arroyo Seco stream water, all delivered through the city's separate non-potable distribution system. 030 splits uses into two tiers: landscape and agricultural irrigation, certain construction uses, and aesthetic impoundments are 'mandatory' non-potable uses, while commercial uses like cooling towers, toilet flushing, and industrial processes 'may' be required to convert.

Every non-potable user, mandatory or optional, needs a permit from the administrator, the General Manager of Pasadena Water and Power, before service starts. 035 forces the issue for new construction: any project within 500 feet of an existing or planned non-potable main is evaluated for mandatory use, and existing customers using 200,000 cubic feet (2,000 billing units) or more of landscape water a year within that same 500-foot band must retrofit to non-potable service if it's economically and technically feasible; customers get 30 days to file a written objection with the city clerk before a determination becomes final.

040 puts the cost of converting on-site plumbing on the customer, not the city. 060 bars any cross-connection between the potable and non-potable systems, prohibits runoff of non-potable water outside the approved-use area, and bars hose bibs on non-potable lines altogether.