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The Guardian
4 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘Tastes like water': how a US facility is recycling sewage to drink
As the pumps whir around us, Denis Bilodeau motions to the liquid in the vats below. It looks like iced tea, but in fact it's secondary treated sewage, cleaned of any solids by the plant next door. In less than an hour, and after three steps of processing, we will be drinking it – as pure water. The Groundwater Replenishment System facility in Orange County, California, houses the pipes, filters and pumps to move up to 130m gallons each day – enough for 1 million people – processing it from dark to clear. The facility, which opened in 2008, is part of broader moves to help conserve water. Bilodeau, the president of the water district, says: 'This is going to be a blueprint for any community that's facing water scarcity, or wants to have more locally controlled water.' The idea is to take the water from the sanitation district next door and to push it through a three-step process – microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light purification – to make clean water. The facility provides 45% of central Orange County's water and helps manage stormwater inflows and reduce reliance on imported water. View image in fullscreen The Orange County project generates about 130m million gallons of clean drinking water each day –enough for 1 million people. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty In general, once sewage has been treated, the water is returned to our rivers, but extreme droughts and climate change are pushing cities to consider using recycled sewage for drinking water. It is already done in Israel, Singapore and Kuwait, but Orange County has been a US pioneer in this area, hoping to reduce dependence on water piped from faraway rivers or pumped from shrinking aquifers under the ground. Orange County has a population of about 3 million and gets about 14 inches (35.5cm) of rain per year, some years far less, so recycling isn't just a way to reduce costs, it's a way to make sure everyone has what they need. 'Everything's going to have to be reclaimed and recycled,' says Bilodeau. When the liquid reaches the plant it has already been through some treatment and is clean enough to discharge into the oceans, but nowhere near clean enough to drink. The first step is to pump the water through bundles of hollow polypropylene fibres – which look like tiny plastic straws – to remove particulates as well as bacteria and other unwanted elements. Pipes then carry the filtered water to a building to undergo reverse osmosis, where it is pushed through membranes that squeeze out the salts, organic chemicals and any pharmaceutical leftovers. View image in fullscreen Pipes carry the filtered water to a building to undergo reverse osmosis, where it is pushed through membranes that squeeze out the salts, organic chemicals and any pharmaceutical leftovers. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Finally, the water is blasted with high-intensity ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide to disinfect anything that might remain. 'It's concentrated sunlight,' Bilodeau says, 'like what you would see in a tanning booth.' Except this would injure your eyes, because it's so strong. After walking around all three buildings, we reach a sink with running, clear water. I drink a cup of the stuff, expecting a whiff of what it used to be – but no, it's super clean, with almost a flat taste. That's because it no longer contains any salts or minerals – they have been blasted out by the cleaning process. On the cup is a motto, 'Tastes like water … because it is water', chosen because it is the number one comment, says Mehul Patel, the executive director of operations at the Orange County Water District, who oversees the facility. 'There was a misperception that it tastes different or tastes like something,' he says. 'We're trying to show people scientifically, water is just water.' 'We wanted full transparency,' adds Bilodeau, 'because we're talking about serving recycled wastewater to people.' Even though we are drinking the super-clean water out of the facility, the liquid will actually head back underground. Some of it will travel in pipes to the coastline of the Pacific Ocean where it will serve as a buffer to keep the salty water out of the coastal aquifer. Most of it will zoom 15 miles in pipelines to the city of Anaheim, where it will create lakes to percolate down into the aquifer and replenish the water that people drink in the county. 'It's the one that's consistent, because we can control it,' says Bilodeau. 'And that's a big reason why we invested in recycled water so heavily.' skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Down to Earth Free weekly newsletter The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion The big drawback to this system is that making water – instead of sucking it from the ground – takes a huge amount of energy and manpower. The system consumes 17 megawatts of electricity and has a monthly electricity bill of $2.5m (£1.85m), while to run the place takes 26 operators. But the technology also offers some control over an increasingly climate-changed future: Bilodeau says the team estimates several years ahead in terms of what they think their water needs will be and what the water sources will be. 'That's one of the main reasons why we developed this,' he adds. 'Because we wanted to sort of diversify our supply portfolio.' View image in fullscreen A sample of purified water, left, flows next to wastewater following the microfiltration treatment process. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Some places are looking to the oceans for drinking water, but wastewater is more cost-effective as a source of water, Bilodeau says, because there are fewer salts in wastewater than sea water. That makes the energy costs of cleaning the water about half of what it would be to desalinate. The model is increasingly being used in other water-scarce regions in the US. Los Angeles County is building a water recycling project in the San Fernando Valley to produce 20m gallons a day. Instead of sending treated wastewater out to sea, it will be cleaned for drinking water, just like in Orange County. There are also projects starting in Utah, Texas and Colorado. California's State Water Resources Control Board approved regulations for direct potable reuse in October 2024, which allow purified water to go directly into drinking water systems instead of being mixed in with other water sources. The technology in the treatment process allows for the water to be even cleaner than most drinking water. The Orange County model has won awards, including a Guinness World Records title for the most wastewater recycled to drinking water in 24 hours on 16 February 2018. But the best praise is the public support for the water, says Bilodeau – and the economic argument behind it. 'It's now cheaper to make our own water than to buy imported water, or to clean sea water,' he says.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers roast freshman for his bill to create Wise County water district
Republican Rep. Andy Hopper, a freshman from Decatur, was taken to task Thursday night over his first bill, which would create a regional water district in fast-growing Wise County. The bill was voted down by a wide margin, 41-78, but a Senate bill from Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, still has a chance. Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, questioned Hopper on several points in the bill, such as the lack of an elected board members, whether the water district is a government entity, and concerns over no cap on bonds that would be sold. 'So, I think in many ways, this violates the principles that many of us have,' Capriglione said. Capriglione and Hopper did not return calls seeking comments on Friday. 'I've never really filed a MUD bill,' Capriglione said, referring to a municipal utility district. 'So, this is my first time to really take a look at one.' Hopper explained that his bill was modeled after the Upper Trinity Ground Water District in Denton County. Leaders in Alvord, Aurora, Boyd, Bridgeport, Decatur, Newark, New Fairview, Paradise and Rhome have worked together with county leaders for a over a year to develop a regional approach to address the water demand, as studies indicate there isn't enough ground water to sustain the growth. Supporters believe the district would allow municipalities and water providers to better coordinate the water supply and help the cities handle the rapid development. But Hopper's explanations did not sway lawmakers who killed the legislation after some light-hearted banter from Rep. Richard Pena Raymond, D-Laredo, who congratulated Hopper on his first bill, which includes no elections and eminent domain. Hopper explained eminent domain would be needed for water lines and treatment plants. Raymond pretended to talk on a cell phone. 'Mr. Hopper, I've been authorized by the chairman of the Democratic Party to to offer three Democrats in exchange for you and a guaranteed contract with payment to be negotiated later behind closed doors,' he joked. Hopper was chastised for killing the local calendars so his bill was moved to the general calendar in the House. Some lawmakers, including Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, implied that was one of the reasons the bill failed to pass. 'You know what? I believe in fighting for what I believe in. That's what I'm here for,' Hopper told Moody. Boyd Mayor Rodney Homes said he is still optimistic since the bill still has legs in the Senate. Nine Wise County cities worked to get the water district legislation to move forward. 'The water district isn't dead yet,' he said. Holmes added that earlier this week, there was a snag when developers complained that they did not have adequate representation on the board. However, more seats were added to allow developers to have more input, he said. Homes said he thinks Hopper got crossways with the legislators because he stands up for what he believes in, and some don't like that. 'That was a dog and pony show last night, just to get back at Andy,' he said.
