The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a major step toward recycling San Diego’s waste water into drinking water.
“The innovative Pure Water project is an investment in our future that will provide San Diego the reliable water supply we need for our economy to grow and our city to thrive,” said Mayor Kevin Faulconer in a statement after the vote. “I thank the City Council for its support.”
“We can no longer afford to use water just once here in this region,” Councilwoman Marti Emerald said.
The vote officially sought renewal of a federal permit needed to continue operations of the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. Within the plan, however, is a commitment by the city to begin a $3.5 billion project to recycle water for potable use.
Supporters hope the pledge will allow the city to avoid spending $2 billion to upgrade the aging treatment plant. While the outlay is higher, the payoff would be a new, stable source of water for the drought-prone city.
The project is touted as being able to recycle enough purified water to make up a third of San Diego’s drinking water in 2035. A demonstration plant in Miramar is already producing a million gallons a day of recycled water that is cleaner than what comes from the Colorado River.
“This is one of the city’s most critical projects that will help our region grow and thrive, and establish San Diego as a national environmental leader,” Faulconer said at an event last week.
Environmental groups like San Diego Coastkeeper, Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter, Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation and the San Diego Audubon Society all back the city’s approach.
“San Diego is at the end of the pipe, and we need solutions now,” said Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation Executive Director Marco Gonzalez. “This is going to give us a new, drought-proof water source that we desperately need to succeed as a region.”
Often derided with names like “toilet-to-tap,” a multi-step cleansing process being tested by the city produces water cleaner than what residents drink now and meets or exceeds quality standards, according to backers of the plan.
The project would be paid for by a mix of state and federal grants, and rate increases on consumers.
City News Service contributed to this article.
