Persistent drought conditions require drastic steps.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: As California enters its fourth year of the record-setting drought that has left the colossal state marred with a thirst that cannot be slaked, state water managers and environmentalists are beginning to urge adoption of a policy that could alleviate the issue yet still polarizes the public to a drastic degree.
The strategy experts are recommending direct potable reuse, which “takes treated sewage effluent and purifies it” so it can be repurposed as drinking water, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Non-potable reuse consisting of treated sewage is often used to treat irrigated crops, parks, or golf courses.
Despite being utilized in other draught-stricken regions in the world, a large portion of Californians have long went out of their way to scupper plans to implement direct potable reuse in their state.
The LA Times reported a slew of advocates believe the tide of public opinion may be ebbing away from its opposition to potable reuse in the wake of the longstanding draught’s devastating effects.
“That water is discharged into the ocean and lost forever,” said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Assn. of California Water Agencies. “Yet it’s probably the single largest source of water supply for California over the next quarter-century.”
Proponents for potable reuse argue the public’s distaste for the concept is based on ignorance and note that more than 200 wastewater treatment plants already discharge effluent into the Colorado River: the primary source of drinking water for Southern California.
“In many ways, [water gleaned from potable reuse] is cleaner than the water people are already consuming,” U.C. Berkeley professor David Sedlak told local CBS affiliate KCBS in April. “If you’ve ever been to Southern California or the Southwest where the water tastes funny, you’re probably tasting all the dissolved salts in the water and they make it unpalatable. This recycled water has much lower levels of salt. If people could do a side-by-side taste comparison, it tastes better than a lot of the water you get around the country.”
George Tchobanoglous — a water treatment expert and professor emeritus at UC Davis — informed the LA Times that by 2020, potable reuse could yield up to 1.1 million acre-feet of water annually, which would be enough to supply 8 million Californians — one-fifth of the state’s projected population.