Municipally provided recycled water is available to the project site and the intent of the irrigation design is to use this recycled water to the fullest extent possible. A portion of the park will be a swimming pool/aquatics complex. The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health (DEH) does not permit the use of recycled water for irrigation within pool areas due to health concerns regarding cross contamination of potable water systems as stipulated in the San Diego County Rules and Regulations for Recycled Water Use. Therefore we are required by DEH to use potable water for the irrigation within the pool complex. The total irrigated landscape area within the park limits is 786,877 SF. Of that, 756,210 SF will utilize recycled water and 30,667 SF (pool area) will utilize potable water. This equates to over 96% of the total site utilizing recycled water. Every effort has been made to use recycled water to the fullest extent possible while remaining in compliance with local codes and regulations. Please confirm that this approach, which utilizes 100% reclaimed water in all areas allowed by code, will achieve this credit.
The project is inquiring whether it may achieve both Water Efficiency credits for the use of municipally-provided reclaimed water for irrigation purposes despite the fact that certain areas of the project utilize potable water for irrigation. Although this credit indicates that projects must use 100% reclaimed water for all project irrigation purposes, it is permissible for this project, in this circumstance, to exclude the areas nearest the swimming pool as reclaimed water may prove to be a public health hazard. For project Submittal, the team should be prepared to provide documentation from the San Diego County DEH demonstrating the code requirement.