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  2. Water Reuse

Summary of Tennessee's Water Reuse Guideline or Regulation for Onsite Collected Waters for Landscaping

This page is part of the EPA’s REUSExplorer tool, which summarizes the different state level regulations or guidelines for water reuse for a variety of sources and end-uses.
The source water for this summary is Onsite Collected Waters.

REUSExplorer Links

  • REUSExplorer home page
  • News in reuse regulations
  • Maps of states with water reuse regulations or guidelines

On this page:

  • Technical basis
  • Water reuse for landscaping approved for use in Tennessee
  • Water reuse treatment category for landscaping
  • Additional context and definitions
  • Water reuse for landscaping specifications (table)
  • Upcoming state law or policy
  • References
  • Disclaimer

This page is a summary of the state’s water reuse law or policy and is provided for informational purposes only. Please always refer to the state for the most accurate and updated information.

In Tennessee, water reuse for landscapingThe use of recycled water on land to assist in the irrigation of vegetation in residential and non-residential areas. Includes impoundments to store water for irrigation , ornamental vegetation, parks, school yards, sporting facilities (including golf courses), private gardens, roadsides and greenbelts, and cemeteries. Excludes irrigation of areas used for agriculture, commercial reuse applications, or any centralized non-potable reuse. applications include subsurface landscaping irrigation. The source of water onsite collected waters Water sources generated within or surrounding a building, residence, or district. Other terms referring to this source of water include onsite collected stormwater or rainwater, greywater, blackwater, air conditioning condensate, and foundation water. is specified by the state as graywater. Graywater includes water received only from bathtubs, showers, lavatories, clothes washers or laundry trays. The write-up uses state terms when discussing sources or uses of water that may differ from the Regulations and End-Use Specifications Explorer’s (REUSExplorer’s) terms.

Technical basis

Tennessee approves the reuse of graywater for landscaping applications including subsurface landscaping irrigation (TPC, 2012). All applicable provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.), including its implementing regulations, must be met in addition to any state water quality standards. Graywater recycling systems are subject to specifications under the Tennessee Plumbing Code (TPC, 2012). Tennessee requires a permit for the installation or alteration of any plumbing system, including graywater recycling systems (TN Code § 69-3-108). Treatment requirements are applied for the removal of debris, microbial contaminants, chemicals and other relevant indicators related to graywater reuse and are not specified.

Water reuse for landscaping approved for use in Tennessee

Tennessee (TPC, 2012) approves of these landscaping water reuse applications for recycled graywater:

  • Subsurface landscaping irrigation

Additional landscaping water reuse applications for collected graywater are not specified.

Water reuse treatment category for landscaping

Tennessee does not assign recycled graywater used for subsurface landscape irrigation systems to a category or class. Tennessee requires all graywater entering the collection reservoir of the graywater recycling system to pass through an approved filter such as a sand or diatomaceous earth filter (TPC, 2012). Graywater designated for subsurface landscape irrigation systems does not require disinfection (TPC, 2012).

Additional context and definitions

In Tennessee, graywater recycling systems are subject to the requirements provided by the TPC (2012). Graywater recycling systems may only receive waste discharge from bathtubs, showers, lavatories, clothes washers or laundry trays (TPC, 2012). The recycling systems must be constructed of nonabsorbent and corrosion-resistant materials. Collection reservoirs shall be sized to limit the retention time of graywater designated for subsurface landscape irrigation systems to a maximum of 24 hours (TPC, 2012).

Onsite non-potable water reuse specifications

None.

Upcoming state law or policy

No upcoming regulations pertaining to landscaping applications were found for Tennessee.

References

Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). 2023. ARP Competitive Grant Workshop Series: Water Reuse.

Tennessee Plumbing Code (TPC). 2012. Chapter 13: Gray Water Recycling Systems.

Water Quality Control Act: Permits, TN Code § 69-3-108 (2021).


Disclaimers

Disclaimers

The Regulations and End-Use Specifications Explorer (REUSExplorer) is intended to be a synthesis of state laws and policies governing water reuse across the US for informational purposes only. These summaries are not legally binding and do not replace or modify any state or federal laws. In the case of any conflict between these summaries and a state or federal law, the state or federal law governs. Numeric and other types of water reuse standards and specification regulations are included in these summaries, but not necessarily all relevant state laws. It is possible a state law authorizes types of water reuse, while no reuse standards and/or specification regulations have been adopted.

Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

References were included if they could be categorized as either an act, standard, regulation, criteria, guideline, guidance document, technical manual, or appendix issued by a government, standards organization (e.g., ISO, NSF/ANSI), professional association (e.g., AWWA, IWA), research sponsor (e.g., WERF, WRF), or expert committee (e.g., National Academies) and considered to be active or adopted. References were excluded if they indicated that a state approved reuse projects on a case-by-case basis only; contained no water quality specifications or requirements; and/or focused on land disposal of both water and biosolids rather than a specific reuse application.

Please contact us at waterreuse@epa.gov if the information on this page needs updating or if this state is updating or planning to update its laws and policies and we have not included that information on the news page.

Contact Us about Water Reuse and Recycling to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on October 20, 2025
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