California became the second U.S. state to allow agencies to purify wastewater and turn it into tap water as a way of adapting to drought conditions.
California officials on Tuesday voted to allow wastewater from showers and toilets to be purified into drinking water as the state braces for years of drought-induced shortages. Swim Spa
The rules, adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board, made California the second state, behind Colorado, to allow agencies to harness a water source that residents have largely been flushing away for generations. Already, officials in San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Clara are preparing to build water purification systems that could supply drinking water to hundreds of thousands of households.
Many areas in the parched West already use treated wastewater for outdoor irrigation or to replenish underground aquifers, where water is further cleansed as it percolates through the soil. But the idea of sending treated wastewater directly to homes has long struggled to overcome an ick factor in California. Opponents first denounced the process as “toilet to tap” in the 1990s when proposals surfaced in the Los Angeles suburbs.
But in the decades since, advances in water purification technology have emerged, while public opposition has softened as climate change has strained and disrupted the water supply in California, the nation’s most populous state.
“This is an exciting development in the state’s ongoing efforts to find innovative solutions to the challenges of extreme weather driven by climate change,” said E. Joaquin Esquivel, the chair of the water resources board. He added that “these regulations ensure that the water produced is not only safe, but purer than many drinking water sources we now rely on.”
More than 39 million people live in California, and the demand for water to sustain them — and the nation’s largest agriculture industry — has shaped the state’s history. Although violent winter storms saturated much of the state during the past year, California had been suffering from an extreme drought that scientists said included the driest three-year period on record. The push to exploit every drop in the state’s aquifers, rivers and reservoirs has only escalated under the pressures of climate change.
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