A sewage treatment plant will soon serve as Santa Clara County’s newest source of water: pre-treated wastewater will soon be used for electrical fountains, fire hydrants, and landscaping, and might eventually replace tap water in residents’ homes.
County officials claim purified sewage is safe to drink, but some
residents are deeply disturbed at the prospect of drinking what
was once used in toilets.
The new $68 million Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification
Center will open this fall. The plant will purify 8 million
gallons of sewage water a day through microfiltration, reverse
osmosis and ultraviolet light, CBS San Francisco reports.
“The state-of-the-art facility will take treated wastewater
that would have otherwise been discharged into the San Francisco
Bay and purify it,” the purification center writes on its
website.
Officials claim that the purified water is cleaner and safer to
drink than current bottle or tap water, but Santa Clara County
residents have nevertheless recoiled from the idea.
Because of the stigma surrounding the prospect of consuming and
bathing in former sewage water, the purified water will not flow
into homes — at least, not yet. When the facility opens in the
fall, the water will be used for fire hydrants, landscaping and
electrical fountains until officials are able to convince the
public that the water is safe to drink.
“It takes a long time to educate folks and grasp this concept
that this water can be purified to a level that’s cleaner than
what we are already drinking,” Marty Grimes of the Santa
Clara Valley Water District told CBS. “The reality is that we
are able to produce water that is cleaner than all of our other
water sources.”
In the hydrology purification process, coagulants such as lime
and alum are added to the water to cause particles to clump
together. These clumps settle at the bottom of the water-holding
tanks, after which the water if filtered out and disinfected with
chlorine. Microfiltration ensures that all liquid and gas
contaminants are removed, and reverse osmosis ensures that
certain molecules and ions are removed. Ultraviolet light is then
used to kill any microorganisms that might have survived.
Southern California is prone to droughts, and the new facility
will provide a reliable water supply that would be particularly
beneficial during long periods without rain.
“With the effects of climate change, population growth and
long periods of drought on the horizon, we need to find
additional local, sustainable water supplies,” the Silicon
Valley Advanced Water Purification Center writes on its website.
Although Santa Clara officials have ensured that the purified
sewage water is safe to drink, the Santa Clara Valley Water
District has previously come under fire for endangering the
public by violating state water-pollution laws.
The agency repeatedly spilled hydraulic oil into its reservoirs,
and last year faced a lawsuit for potentially damaging the
environment and tainting drinking water. The agency brushed aside
the allegations, claiming that the spills were small and
insignificant.
But as news of the toilet-to-tap purification process spreads,
residents might remain skeptical about the claims made by
officials who considered hydraulic oil spills no big deal.
Republished from: RT