Westminster, CO Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

makes reclaimed and non-potable water available for allowable purposes on commercial and industrial sites, parks, golf courses and common areas within residential developments, subject to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Regulation 84. Three flat prohibitions apply regardless of site type: reclaimed water cannot serve individual single-family residential use, cannot be used for any indoor purpose, and cannot irrigate any food crop. Every new development must submit a connection application to the Department of Public Works and Utilities as part of the preliminary or official development plan process, and the City Manager or designee decides, in their sole discretion, whether a project uses reclaimed or potable water for irrigation, weighing the availability of distribution lines, the amount of irrigated area, and conformance with state and federal rules; the City can also set the maximum flow rate, timing and hours reclaimed water is available.

No property may begin using non-potable water, or connect to the system, without prior City approval. Under Section 8-12-2(G), any new or redeveloped irrigation system built after the connection-application process took effect must tie into the reclaimed/non-potable system at construction if it is available and the City Manager or Public Works Director finds it reasonable; if reclaimed water is only planned for the future, the property may be required to convert within 180 days of a City notice of availability. Section 8-12-3 confines these rules to landscape irrigation use of reclaimed and non-potable water and bars localized reclaimed water treatment systems, meaning private on-site treat-and-reuse systems, from operating anywhere within city limits.