San Diego approves $2.5bn plan to recycle wastewater for drinking

San Diego City Council in California, US, has unanimously voted in favour of a $2.5bn plan for a sewage purification system to ensure a more reliable and long-term supply of water in the city.

In the initial phase, the plan intends to recycle 15 million gallons of water daily by 2023, which is expected to rise to 83 million gallons a day by 2035, accounting for almost one-third of the city’s water supply.

Fox News reports Mayor Kevin Faulconer as saying: "The drought puts a finer point on why this is so necessary.

"Droughts are unfortunately a way of life in California, so we have to be prepared.

"This helps us to control our own destiny."

The Californian city has 1.4 million people and needs to import 85% of its water from the Colorado River and Northern California.

The city’s main treatment plant fails to comply with the federal regulations for dumping wastewater in the ocean, which prompted the council to favour the new system.

Since 1995, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted a waiver every five years, the latest of which will expire in July.

Other water districts in California, such as the Orange County Water District and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, have already welcomed the idea of using recycled wastewater for drinking, reports Fox News.

Only ten such projects have been initiated nationwide, according to the WateReuse Association, the group of agencies pursuing similar projects in the US.