San Diego’s $3.5 billion plan to fight the drought by recycling sewage into drinking water is forcing state regulators to rewrite their water recycling rule book.
State rules call for purified sewer water to be pumped into large natural basins under ground before it can enter the local water supply, partly because that’s how it’s done where water recycling essentially began in Orange County.
San Diego’s lack of adequate groundwater basins and aquifers, however, will force local officials to pump the recycled water directly into city reservoirs.
That nearly unprecedented approach, which will shrink the amount of time between water getting recycled and showing up in faucets, could create health concerns and make it harder for the public to embrace recycled water, which some critics call “toilet to tap.”
But it could also make San Diego a model for the many other drought-stricken cities in the West that lack ground water basins but still see recycling sewer water as their best option.
San Diego needs state approval to move forward with its water purification program, which is expected to produce 83 million gallons a day of potable water by 2035 — a third of the city’s needed supply.