Posted on 05/15/2008 3:09:23 PM PDT by XR7
LOS ANGELES Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Department of Water and Power are expected to announce on May 15 a revised water use and management plan for this city that includes using recycled wastewater to recharge drinking water aquifers, according to a May 15 Los Angeles Times article.
The new plan allocates about $1 billion for the proposed reclamation system, also known as toilet-to-tap or sewer-to-spigot. The city would recycle about 4.9 billion gallons of treated wastewater to drinking standards by 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported on May 15.
Villaraigosa, who less than a decade ago opposed such a plan, now is considering using the highly treated wastewater to recharge underground drinking supplies serving the San Fernando Valley, Los Feliz and the Eastside, The Times said.
The long-term proposal is expected to carry a $2 billion total price tag, and impose water-use restrictions on Angelenos. Ratepayers also would be encouraged to upgrade their appliances to those that are water-saving. The Times reported that financial incentives and building code changes would be used to incorporate high-tech conservation equipment in homes and businesses.
The proposed plan has been devised to help the city meet its increasing water demand, which is expected to grow by 15 percent within the next 22 years.
Department of Water and Power General Manager David Nahai said in the article, This is a radical departure for the city of Los Angeles.
Nahai said some details of the proposed plan need to be worked out, but in crafting the new plan, the city has looked at its previous water reclamation attempt in the 1990s.
This is a new day. We have new technology. Were going to reach out very aggressively to the public and engage them as to the facts, Nahai said in the article.
The handful of toilet-to-tap water recycling operations in the United States typically treat wastewater to at least drinking-water quality before sending it into drinking water supplies.
To read the full Los Angeles Times article, click here.
To read the full Wall Street Journal article, which includes an in-depth look at recycled water, click here.
For related information on this story, click here.
This is a good idea, and probably inevitable. The Colorado River is about 100% utilized now; there is no more water for growing cities in the southwest.
Desalinization of seawater is also a good idea, but it is currently more expensive than recycling wastewater.
Seems fitting. Los Angeles is now a 3rd World toilet.
Cities like Milwauki have been doing essentially this same thing since the turn of the last century. The process and technology is proven.
The treated waste water, which is 99.99% pure get pumped into lake Michigan, mixed with the lake water, then the lake water is pumped out and treated for drinking.
The by-product is one of the best fertilizers there is, Milorganite.
Not to mention AIDS and other virus’ from the human waste.
Hate to break it to you....
But you've drank water all your life...that's one way or another been consumed before.
It's Fat Bastard's stool sample, Austin!!!
JH, the water industry is now under the complete control of the EPA. We test for hundreds of chemicals, both organic and inorganic, radiologicals, etc., every year. Before the EPA, our system was judged by the Ohio Department of Health to have just about the best water in the state. But when these scare stories get reported, people lose faith. The whole industry is waiting on the EPA to decide just what to do about pharms. Whatever they decide, we will implement. But it could drastically increase the cost of water. About ten years ago, the EPA felt it was reasonable for people to pay about $1.500 a year for water! Yikes!
The PUCO,Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. sets our profits at 10%. And, just like oil, if our costs go up, we have to charge more. But our profits will also increase. 10% of $1,500 is more than 10% of $600!
BTW, I like to warn people to run their water for a bit before drawing a glass to drink or to cook with. Lead and copper seldom come from the water. If the water is a bit acidic, the pb and cu will be leached from the copper pipes, solder, and MOSTLY from the plumbing fixtures in your own house. New fixtures are especially guilty! We add a phosphate product called AquaMag to our water to adjust the ph level.
Wouldn't that cause medicine and by-products to accumulate in the liver and kidneys? Isn't that the problem with many drugs; they simply just can't "pass-through?"
Bera Whiz Beer- ‘It’s in the water, that’s why it’s yellow!”
Remember that that clear mountain water also has bear, coyote, skunk, nountain lion, etc, etc whiz in it.
W.C. Fields is reported to have said “Water- never touch the stuff- Fish go to the bathroom in it.”
Oops!- Bera = Bear
You’re correct. But many of these medicines may be better delivered, with less waste products, by a “patch.” Dosage may then be able to be much smaller, but just as effective. I don’t really know. I’m not a real doc despite my bogus user name. My user name comes from a practical joke I played on a friend, so,,,,,
Exactly. All the water that there is today is all the water that there has ever been.
Looks like he is trying to bring up the potable water standerds according to his home country of filthy mexico
Uh, nope. That's incorrect, I believe.
Every time you burn something you create new water that did not exist.
"Hmm... it's a bit nutty."
Montezuma's revenge, indeed.
Really? I didn’t know that.
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