The Kansas Department of Health and the Environment has recently approved a plan for Lawrence to use treated wastewater for irrigating city shrubbery and plots of land.
Jeanette Klamm, utilities program manager for Lawrence, says this summer's drought influenced the city's decision to seek approval for the plan, which calls for integrating effluent -- or treated wastewater -- into the city's irrigation plan.
The Lawrence Journal World reports that Lawrence will soon be getting water for trees, grass, flowers in medians, roundabouts and other plots of land from the wastewater treatment facility instead of from a fire hydrant.
Wichita also pumps effluent water from Cowskin Creek Water Quality Reclamation Facility to recreational ponds, and many other towns across Kansas have been pumping effluent water to golf courses for years.
