From Toilet to Tap

In January, public officials and residents of Orange County, California, toasted the culmination of a water supply project more than a decade in the making. But at these festivities champagne took a backseat to the beverage of choice as celebrants lifted glasses of recycled sewage water.

More than a billion people worldwide lack clean drinking water. While demand for freshwater access continues to increase—after tripling in the last 50 years—global supplies are becoming scarcer. Major rivers vital to surrounding populations are in danger of drying out. Groundwater reserves face a similar fate. The situation threatens to grow worse in the future as extreme droughts occur more often, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In the United States more than 2.1 trillion gallons of water are flushed down toilets every year. What most people think of as sewage is a freshwater reserve that, with a few steps of treatment, could provide drinking water for millions. Recognizing this, Orange County’s water and sanitation districts have begun recycling sewage into drinking water at the world’s largest plant of its kind, the $487 million Groundwater Replenishment System. The treated water, which exceeds state and federal heath standards, is being used to recharge the underground aquifer that feeds the taps of more than 2.3 million residents of the region. Other municipalities in California, Texas, Florida, Singapore, and Australia are exploring similar projects.

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