The drought-parched Spokane River is getting about 14 percent of its water from sewage treatment plants this summer. Industrial and municipal treatment plants discharge about 60 million gallons of treated water daily into the river. The discharges start near the river’s headwaters in Lake Coeur d’Alene and continue downstream to the city of Spokane’s treatment plant. By the time the river passes through Riverside State Park, nearly a sixth of the flow is made up of water recycled from people flushing toilets, taking showers, running dishwaters, doing laundry and using water for industrial applications. “A lot of people call it ‘wastewater,’ ” said BiJay Adams, general manager of the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District. “We refer to it as reclaimed water – we’re not wasting it, we’re recycling it”/Becky Kramer, SR. More here.

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