UNITED STATES: RESIDENTS GIVE MIXED RESPONSE TO LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER'S PLAN TO PURIFY TOILET WATER FOR DRINKING

Record ID: 337045

  • Title: UNITED STATES: RESIDENTS GIVE MIXED RESPONSE TO LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER'S PLAN TO PURIFY TOILET WATER FOR DRINKING
  • Date: 20th April 2000
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 20, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. ZOOM IN: FLUSHING TOILET 0.09 2. SCU: WATER BEING POURED FROM TAP 0.14 3. PAN: ENTRANCE TO TILLMAN WATER TREATMENT FACILITY 0.21 4. PAN OF OF WATER TREATMENT FACILITY 0.32 5. SCU: PROJECT DIRECTOR BILL VAN WAGONER, OF THE LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT, POU
  • Embargoed: 5th May 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAV0KEGY8XMHABFHK6B7ZQ4VP3
  • Story Text: Welcome to sunny southern California, thirsty
    traveller.Here, have a glass of five-year-old toilet water.

    Local and state officials, will soon begin a "toilet to
    tap" project that would recycle billions of gallons of sewage
    water for drinking, according to the Los Angeles Department of
    Water and Power.

    The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's
    proposed 55 million U.S.dollar programme to purify sewage
    water for human consumption would help ease the state's
    perennial water shortage.It could also help build reserves in
    case of a drought, according to Department officials.

    The water would undergo five years of purification and
    monitoring before being mixed in with normal groundwater and
    sent flowing from southern California taps.

    "Right out of the plant, we have water that meets drinking
    water standards except for nitrogen," said project director
    Bill Van Wagoner, standing before the Tillman Water
    Reclamation Centre, "from here we're taking this water an
    letting it percolate through 200 feet of soil into our ground
    water aquifer, where it's actually blending with other sources
    of water.That water remains within the ground for five years
    before it's pumped out and becomes part of our drinking water
    supply."
    The East Valley Water Reclamation Project would start by
    taking about 3.2 billion gallons (12 billion litres) of sewage
    water and sending it to the Hanson Dam spreading grounds,
    where it would be filtered naturally for several years,
    according to the LA-DWP.The water would then seep into the
    ground, where the nitrogen would be absorbed by the soil,
    eventually becoming part of the groundwater that is purified
    and supplied to customers in the Valley.

    Van Wagoner said studies had shown that drinking the
    recycled water caused no ill effects.But some southern
    Californians find the prospect unappetizing.

    "That's basically unsanitary," said L.A.resident Karen
    Penn, "That just shows how much Los Angeles County thinks of
    the people in general if they're trying to serve us toilet
    water.That's disgusting!"
    Environmentalists have hailed the idea, saying southern
    California had depended for too long on water imported from
    other parts of the state.

    L.A.resident Randy Warner agrees."I think its a
    brilliant idea.Recycling's the way to go," said Warner, "If
    they can purify it where we're not going to know and it's not
    going to bother our body and nothing's going to be negative
    about it, why not?"
    Some just can't see it that way."I'll just drink Pepsi,
    man," said Robert Kazaryn of Los Angeles, "I don't want to be
    drinking no toilet water."
    Van Wagoner says citizens are missing the point.He said:
    "You have to remember the drought (of 1990) and our water
    supply situation here.We're a desert community.We really
    have to develop our resources here at home in Los Angeles, and
    here we have a very economical, wonderful supply of water
    right here that we can use beneficially to protect our way of
    life here as well as protect our economic well-being."
    If the recycled water is passed fit to drink, the project
    could expand to some 11 billion gallons (41 billion litres) a
    year, which experts believe is enough to supply 70,000
    families with tap water.


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