Toilet water flushed in California can now be treated and turned into drinking water for use in homes, schools and businesses as the state faces water shortages.
In an effort called “toilet-to-tap,” California officials approved new rules that allow water agencies to recycle sewage waste from showers and toilets to provide drinking water.
Suppliers are now allowed, but not obliged, to treat wastewater and return it to the drinking water system of hundreds of thousands of households.
California will become the second state after Colorado to adopt these rules, as the Golden State faced extreme drought last year and struggled to supply drinking water to its 39 million residents.
Darrin Polhemus, director of the Division of Drinking Water at the State Water Resources Control Board, said, “When it is completed, it will truly be the highest quality water delivered in the state.”
Toilet water flushed in California will now be treated and turned into drinking water for use in homes, schools and businesses as the state braces for water shortages. In the photo: the Salton Sea in California
California will become the second state after Colorado to adopt these rules, as the Golden State faced extreme drought last year and struggled to supply drinking water to its 39 million residents. Pictured: Elizabeth Lake in California
Public opinion is divided on the issue after similar projects sparked a backlash two decades ago
When the proposal emerged in the 1990s, opponents who opposed the idea of sending toilet water to homes for reuse called it “toilet-to-tap.”
But the regulations were unanimously approved by the Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday, after the state saw more than 1,200 wells dry and half a million acres of farmland fallow last year.
Officials in San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Clara have been preparing to build water treatment systems, as reported by the New York Times.
Three different levels of treatment will be provided to purify wastewater so it meets drinking water standards, officials said.
“If one fails, two more are left as backup to ensure nothing goes untreated,” Polhemus said.
Under the new rules, wastewater will be treated against all pathogens and viruses as it passes through activated carbon filters and reverse osmosis membranes.
The already recycled water will also be disinfected with UV light, among other things.
“It's the same drinking water quality, and probably better in many cases,” Polhemus said.
When the proposal emerged in the 1990s, opponents who opposed the idea of sending toilet water to homes for reuse called it “toilet-to-tap.”
“It's the same drinking water quality, and in many cases probably better,” officials said
Three different levels of treatment will be offered to purify the wastewater so that it meets drinking water standards
Officials also noted that drinking recycled wastewater is not a new practice because treated water flows back into rivers and streams before reaching cities for daily consumption.
“Anyone who gets drinking water downstream from a wastewater treatment plant discharge — which, I promise you, all of you do — is already drinking toilet water from the tap,” Joaquin Esquivel, chairman of the board, said Tuesday.
'All the water is recycled. What we have here are standards, science and – most importantly – monitoring that allow us to have confidence that it is clean water,” Esquivel added.
The new rules are expected to boost overall water supplies in the state with more than 39 million residents and the country's largest agricultural industry.
In the Gold State's three driest years on record, wells dried up, farmlands lay fallow and wildfires ravaged the hills.
Although powerful storms that dumped record amounts of rain and snow effectively ended the state's three-year drought in 2023, officials warn of new challenges.
'We have rain now, but there is a good chance that we will experience another dry spell and wastewater is always a reliable source. Every community, even during drought, produces wastewater,” Polhemus said.
“Direct reuse of drinking water is just a really critical strategy for our state … increasing our resilience and reducing our dependence on imported water,” said Laurel Firestone, board member.
Under the new rules, wastewater will be treated against all pathogens and viruses as it passes through activated carbon filters and reverse osmosis membranes
Completion of the facilities, which are large and expensive to build, is expected to take approximately six to seven years
Public opinion is divided on the issue after similar projects sparked a backlash two decades ago.
A California resident told me CBS Tuesday: 'From wastewater to drinking water sounds a bit dirty.'
The regulations will be filed with the state Administrative Law Office in the summer or fall of next year, and local water agencies will vote on whether to implement them in their cities.
“No one is going to do this without first going through a public process, educating the public, getting approval for it and moving forward,” Polhemus said.
Completion of the facilities, which are large and expensive to build, is expected to take about six to seven years, as reported by KTL.
“So no one will drink direct reuse of potable drinking water in the near future,” Polhemus added.