That is not correct. Your potable water is used in the house for drinking, showers, and anything else you use water for in your house. If the water goes down the sanitary sewer drain inside your house, it is sent to a treatment facility where it is processed back into potable water. It cannot be used as reclaimed water before treatment. This process is very expensive and you are charged by the gallon, based on the number of gallons that is measured as potable water passing through the meter. However, if you use potable water from an outside hose bib to wash your vehicle or for something outside, it is possible that some of the potable water will go down the storm drain and it will not be transferred to the treatment plant, but it will become reclaimed water. You could argue that this water should not be charged the same rate as sewer water, but that is the way it is charged. This explanation applies only to houses that have separate potable and irrigation water supplies to the house.
Some houses, particularly on the north side of The Villages, use potable water for everything, including irrigation.
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