Officials In California Unveil Regulatory Guidelines For Direct Potable Reuse
One of the country’s thirstiest states is now a step closer to adopting a drinking water conservation practice that has struggled to gain public enthusiasm, despite support from treatment professionals.
“Californians could drink highly purified sewage water that is piped directly into drinking water supplies for the first time under proposed rules unveiled by state water officials,” Cal Matters reported. “The new rules, mandated by state law, would require extensive treatment and monitoring before wastewater can be piped to taps or mingled with raw water upstream of a drinking water treatment plant.”
Recycling wastewater and recharging it into drinking water supplies, a process known as direct potable reuse (DPR), has been advocated by drinking water and wastewater treatment professionals for years, as it typically results in even cleaner drinking water than usual. California itself has allowed for indirect potable reuse for decades, with the requirement that the treated wastewater is recharged into reservoirs or aquifers first.
Historically, however, the idea of drinking recycled wastewater before it spends any time in the natural environment has faced public resistance.
But as water scarcity grows worse, the state is moving toward DPR for agricultural purposes as its neighbors prepare to introduce it for drinking water supplies. And with state officials attempting to remove the legal requirement that wastewater be injected into source bodies before it can enter the drinking supply, it seems that California sees DPR as a critical part of its future, particularly in its dry south.
“The climate crisis is driving longer and more extreme droughts, pushing our already overstretched water supplies to the brink,” according to LAist. “Recycling more water for drinking is one way Southland cities are working to lessen reliance on imported water from the Colorado River and northern California.”
Even with an apparent change in public sentiment about the value of DPR, it will be some time before Californians benefit from this potential efficiency. In the meantime, their water worries and interest in innovative solutions are likely to grow.
“The draft rules … still face a gauntlet of public comment, a hearing and peer review by another panel of experts before being finalized,” per Cal Matters. “The State Water Resources Control Board is required by law to vote on them by the end of December, though they can extend the deadline if necessary. They would likely go into effect next April and it will take many years to reach people’s taps.”
To read more about how DPR is growing as a solution to water scarcity, visit Water Online’s Water Reuse Solutions Center.