Los Angeles officials want to turn wastewater into drinking water

Toilet water may be recycled for tap water usage in some Los Angeles neighborhoods

April 17, 2000
Web posted at: 10:57 p.m. EDT (0257 GMT)

LOS ANGELES -- Water that was once flushed down the toilet may one day flow from the kitchen faucets of some Los Angeles area homes, as one answer to the area's perennial water shortage.

Water officials said the $55 million "toilet to tap" project would eventually recycle billions of gallons of sewage water for drinking.

But before anyone drinks the recycled wastewater, it will travel several years through a purification system and percolate through the earth to ground water basins.

	VIDEO
CNN's Anne McDermott looks at a plan that would turn toilet water into drinking water for some L.A. residents. QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

"It takes the water about five years to travel 6,000 feet, better than a mile, before it reaches our first production wells," said Bill Van Wagoner of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The water would then mingle with normal ground water before being pumped out the taps in the North Hollywood area, Studio City, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks and Pacoima.

Experts say the water will be absolutely safe to drink. In fact, people have been drinking such water in other parts of the state, and similar water reclamation programs are also under way in Virginia, Texas and Florida.

But some Southern Californians aren't convinced.

"This is human waste," said Lori Dinkin of the Valley Villagers Homeowners Association in an interview with the suburban Daily News newspaper. "I'm very uneasy about that."

Dinkin was unimpressed by assurances by the water department that the water was safe. She told the paper, "They also said that about Love Canal. And they have said all these lovely things about Agent Orange. I don't like to think about this."

Environmentalists say the project will make Southern California less dependent on imported water and lead to less destruction of wildlife habitats.

"The water that we drink every day has been around for millions of years and circulated through who knows what -- dinosaurs, black bears and panthers," said David Czamanske of the Sierra Club.

"The water becomes purified through natural processes or it can be purified through reclamation processes."

Los Angeles is trying the reclamation program because Southern California is basically a desert and needs an additional source of water.

Most of the water is does get comes from Mono Lake in the eastern central part of the state by Yosemite National Park. But a few years ago, state officials cut back on Los Angeles' allotment. Reclaiming wastewater is one way to make up the difference and even save water for future droughts.

However, some residents have trouble getting over what might be called the "ugh" factor.

"I mean I keep a pretty clean toilet, but you know still it's pretty disgusting," said one man.

Similar reactions prompted San Diego authorities to drop their toilet to tap proposal.

And while one woman thinks the plan will be good for Los Angeles, she acknowledged, "I get bottled water, I don't drink the water that comes out of the tap anyway."

Correspondent Anne McDermott and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

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