Nonpotable water source

Hi Ricardo, 

There's a statement in the Reference Guide that says "Untreated water sources ineligible for this credit include raw water from naturally occurring surface bodies of water, streams, rivers, groundwater, well water and water discharged from an open-loop geothermal system."

Given that statement, I don't believe you can claim potable water savings using well water. I don't understand their reasoning, but their statement seems pretty clear.

Now what if you treat this well water, or in my case groundwater. Then can we use it as an alternate water source?

Hi Christine,

It seems to me that if you treat groundwater, it may then be considered potable, and therefore wouldn't qualify for reducing water use. I'm sure there are many ways to treat water, however, that may make it suitable for use for certain applications, but not necessarily fully potable.

I would suggest emailing GBCI with a specific description of your proposed process and application(s) post-treatment and ask if it would meet the intent of the credit. They may respond by saying you'd need to submit an official CIR, but sometimes they can bless the approach if it's something that just needs clarification.

Hi all,

do you have updates regarding this topic?

Many thanks