Using wastewater rather than fresh water to flush feeding areas and freestall barns. Using a housing system that will keep cows clean enough so that cow washers are not needed to clean cows before milking. If flushing of heavy use areas is desired, these areas could be flushed with recycled water after scraping. This would reduce total nutrient loads retained in wastewater and reduce the size of the sprayfield needed for water and manure nutrient recycling. Estimated water budgets for three example dairies.
All values are gallons unless otherwise noted.