San Diego forced to recycle SEWAGE into drinking water

Acknowledging California's parched new reality, the city of San Diego has embraced a once-toxic idea: turning sewer water into drinking water.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to advance a $2.5billion plan to recycle wastewater, the latest example of how California cities are looking for new supplies amid a severe drought.

Each of the nine council members effusively praised the effort before the vote as a way to make San Diego less dependent on imported water and insulated from drought.

'We're at the end of the pipeline,' said Councilman Scott Sherman. 'We have a real problem getting water down here.'


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Recycling: The San Diego City Council voted unanimously to support a $2.5billion plan to recycle waste water to drinking water. The Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, pictured, will decontaminate the water

Such recycling, called toilet-to-tap by critics, has suffered an image problem that industry insiders call 'the yuck factor.'

San Diego, a city of 1.4million people that imports 85 per cent of its water from the Colorado River and Northern California, has slowly warmed to the idea. A 2012 survey by the San Diego County Water Authority showed that nearly three of four residents favored turning wastewater into drinking water, a major shift from one of four in a 2005 survey.

'The drought puts a finer point on why this is so necessary,' Mayor Kevin Faulconer said. 'Droughts are unfortunately a way of life in California, so we have to be prepared. This helps us to control our own destiny.'

The plan calls to initially recycle 15million gallons by 2023 and 83million gallons a day by 2035, about one-third of the city's water supply. It enjoys broad support from business groups and environmental advocates.


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Parched: California is currently experiencing a period of severe drought. Evidence of the drought is seen above in the pictures of Lake Mead over a seven year span.


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Declining: Lake Mead is fed by the Colorado River, where the city of San Diego gets 50 per cent of its water

The Orange County Water District, which serves 2.4million people in California, plans to boost production of recycled water next year from 70million gallons to 100million gallons a day. It has reused wastewater for drinking since 2008 through treatment that includes sending water through ground basins.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District, which serves 1.8million people in the San Francisco Bay area, decided in September to pursue construction of facilities that it says could lead to turning wastewater into drinking water for Sunnyvale and western Santa Clara County.

Still, it remains rare to turn sewage to drinking water. The WateReuse Association, a group of agencies behind the efforts, counts only 10 projects nationwide, including El Paso, Texas, and Fairfax County, Virginia. Two Texas cities, Wichita Falls and Big Spring, started projects within the past two years.


Credit to Dailymail.co.uk
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