From Toilet to Tap: California Transforms Sewage into Drinking Water
California is making headlines and attracting new admirers—from environmentalists to government officials—because of a new facility that is daily transforming 70 million gallons of treated sewage into drinking water for 2.3 million residents of coastal, central and northern Orange County.“Eeyeewww” may be the first reaction of people in damper climates when they hear about the new purification system, but to water-starved Californians it is a godsend.
The $490 million facility, which covers 20 acres, provides Orange County with a reliable source of locally controlled water that will help make the county drought-proof and stabilize the water supply. Once the system is at full capacity, officials say it will be able to reclaim 130 million gallons of water daily.
How Sewage Becomes Clean, Pure Drinking WaterThe new reclamation facility takes treated sewage that previously would have been dumped into the ocean, runs it through an advanced filtration system, and turns out clean drinking water that is so pure it has to be treated with lime to prevent it from leaching minerals out of the concrete pipes that transport it. After being run through the filtration system, the water is free of bacteria, viruses, carcinogens, hormones, chemicals, toxic heavy metals, fertilizers, pesticides and pharmaceuticals.
Instead of going straight to the tap, however, the reclaimed water is pumped into the county’s underground aquifer to reduce saltwater intrusion and supplement drinking water supplies for county residents. Adding the reclaimed water to the groundwater supply also provides additional filtering, as it percolates through the soil to depths of up to 1,000 feet.
Turning Sewage Into Drinking Water Saves Money and EnergyOver time, transforming sewage into drinking water will be far cheaper than continuing to import drinking water from other parts of California and the United States. Reclamation also uses less electricity than transporting the same amount of water to Orange County through the state’s aqueduct system. If adopted widely, reclamation could save the state hundreds of millions of dollars by reducing ocean outfall by more than half.
"All of Southern California should be doing these projects,” said Connor Everts, executive director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance, an environmental group. “They represent an efficient use of local resources. They are cost-effective and one of the most environmentally friendly things you can do."
Photo courtesy of Dawn M. Turner
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