Officials and agencies in Los Angeles are examining how treated sewage water can be directly put into the drinking water system. Seriously. Remember, this is California crazy.
This from westernjournal.com.
Brad Coffey of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California told Los Angeles Times:
There’s been a health legacy where sanitary engineering practices and regulators considered sewage a waste, it was something to be avoided, something to be feared.
Coffey added:
Now that we have the technology … the public, the regulators, the scientific community has much greater confidence in our ability to safely reuse that water supply.
A mere few decades ago, such recycling was unthinkable.
Under consideration by city authorities [now] is ‘direct potable reuse,’ which varies from ‘indirect potable reuse,’ where recycled water is in a place with environmental barriers such as underground aquifers or reservoirs before being consumed by humans, according to LA Times.
In the 1990s, when California agencies worked on taking advantage of wastewater to replenish groundwater in San Gabriel Valley and the city of Los Angeles, community groups brought lawsuits against the projects, citing the risk of adverse environmental impact, LA Times reported
However, as drought conditions worsen in California and the Western United States, opposition to such projects has “softened,” according to LA Times.
Two wastewater recycling initiatives are under development in Los Angeles County, the LA Times reported.
One is a $3.4 billion plant at the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson, California.
Coffey told the newspaper:
Our goal is really to turn the largest discharge of treated wastewater in Southern California into an engine for groundwater replenishment.
He explained:
That’s in an attempt to interrupt, break the snowpack-dependent water cycle of much of California and much of the West … that’s threatened by climate change.
Pacific Institute Research Director Heather Cooley told the LA Times:
We have built a very highly centralized system, and it’s sort of a once-through system.
Another challenge in implementing the project is ensuring the water recycled is safe for public consumption and adjusting regulations accordingly. No kidding!
The key for what we’re trying to do is always protect public health, so when we’re writing these regulations, our focus is on protecting public health.
Water treatment operators use a concept known as log removal to judge the number of impurities in water, according to the LA Times.
For some viruses, state authorities require up to 20 log removals for water to be judged safe.
At present, there’s no way to monitor chemicals and pathogens in sewage water in real time.
Barnard said:
We get accused sometimes that we’re too conservative, but it’s because we have public health at risk.
Are there any Los Angeles residents reading this? If so, please comment.
Drinking this “reconditioned sewage water” can be avoided, but allowing it to touch one’s skin might also be something to consider avoiding.
If this project moves forward and becomes practice, questionable water quality may very well be another reason for many of us to stay away from LA.
