San Diego approved of a plan to purify sewage water for reuse. Photo by Flickr user Jase Curtis
What’s there to do when your city is in the midst of an ongoing drought and the price tag on imported water continues to spike? Recycle your sewage water, that’s what.
On Tuesday, the San Diego City Council approved plans to turn sewage water into drinking water through a heavy-duty purification process.
“We can no longer afford to use water just once in this region,” Councilwoman Marti Emerald said.
The city is pouring $1 million into efforts to educate the public on why drinking purified wastewater isn’t harmful — what critics call “toilet-to-tap.”
The process involves sending sewage water through an intense filtration system to ultimately kill any and all contaminants. The “Pure Water” project mirrors a plan that was raised in Orange County, California, and San Diego back in 2008.
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