The National Research Council has just released a report that our conventional drinking water supplies can be safely augmented through the use of recycled wastewater.
The report’s conclusion comes at a crucial time for California, which has often led the way when it comes to using recycled wastewater to replenish exhausted groundwater supplies, but has also met with resistance from residents who are wary of the concept, most likely due to misconceptions about the processes involved.
The 300-plus page report moved back from a drastic conclusion on recycled water the council made over a decade ago, when it said that recycled water put towards drinking water should be used only as “an option of last resort.”
The report remarked that many supposedly traditional drinking water sources already contain some levels of treated wastewater. Las Vegas, for example, sends its treated sewage to Lake Mead, which is a water source for surrounding regions, including Southern California and the Southwest.
In making its report, the Council looked at levels of dozens of contaminants found in water, including infectious agents, and pharmaceuticals, and determined that the water from recycled sources was no more dangerous than conventional water sources.
Recycled water, after years of public aversion, is finding a new audience in the midst of population growth balanced towards drier corners of the nation, as well as the discussion on climate change.
Los Angeles itself is still actively pursuing the idea of recycled water; it is pushing the use of wastewater generated at the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in the San Fernando Valley to resupply local aquifers. The DWP released a statement in the wake of the report, calling its conclusions encouraging.
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