Wastewater agricultural reuse has two main aspects. It is capable of preventing the discharge of wastewater treatment plant effluents in receiving waters and it is also a way to increase water resources. The controlled agricultural reuse has not been developed until now, either in Languedoc or in Catalonia, but is expected a quick development due to several circumstances: the growing awareness of water resources scarcity, the concern for sanitary hazards in bathing places, the WHO guidelines and the development of tertiary cost-effective treatment methods. In the coastal areas, the growing demand on water resources is putting heavy pressure on some big water users, as golf courses and landscape irrigations, potential users of reclaimed wastewater. © 1991, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.