really? recycling our own feces and urine into drinking water huh? how about common sense water use regulation instead? your tax dollars fund this crap.
Very good video. We wouldn’t be able to do this in Utah because the farmers own the water rights to the effluent from the wastewater plants or it has to go to the great salt lake to keep the water level up
It’s awesome to see people who seem to like the most boring jobs in the world and don’t mind working on them day in and day out. I wouldn’t want to live in LA without the ability to take hour long showers and around the clock lawn sprinklers
Why is it injected into the aquifer instead of going back into the potable water distribution system? Seems to me that injecting it into the ground would create inefficiencies like needing to retreat it once it comes out of a well. If the water was sent back to the distributors, it would decrease the need for water districts to pull from aquifers. What am I not considering?
I'm going to guess you're correct, and this is perfectly safe water, however 1) It's cultural, and people don't want to drink waste water. 2) Going through soil is an additional (redundant) treatment step 3) The aquifer acts as a giant storage tank allowing for peaks and troughs in demand and supply 4) They may be operating under regulations that are just a touch too stringent. Not to say that regulation isn't absolutely necessary, but looking at that process, I'd be perfectly comfortable drinking it.
Regulations at the time this plant was constructed required what is referred to as an "environmental buffer" in water reuse scenarios. The underground aquifer fulfills that requirement in the same way a that a river, stream or other body of water is the location for discharge from wastewater systems elsewhere in the country. California approved direct potable reuse rules in November 2023, which create a regulatory framework that gets at what you've mentioned. Here's our podcast episode with two industry professionals who helped develop it: www.wwdmag.com/water-reuse-recycling/podcast/33038005/talking-under-water-what-californias-new-direct-potable-reuse-regulations-mean
Ok I’ve been thinking more about this. Is the water coming straight from the wastewater plants effluent? If so why spend so much money building the uv and chemical dosing system? The water would have just gone through that as it exited the wastewater plant
WWTPs do not produce potable water. Water that is directly injected into any aquifer has to be of the highest quality to avoid permanently polluting the aquifer.
@@SiR8081correct. But from the aquifer it is drawn into a water treatment plant where it is treated and enters the cities drinking systems. And if it is coming straight from a wastewater plants effluent the last step is uv and chemical treatment before it goes to this setup shown in the video. So in theory the water should be at an acceptable level for pathogens and coliforms
As others have noted, regulations require the treatment to this degree and the use of the aquifer as an environmental buffer for indirect potable reuse. New rules approved in November of 2023 open a pathway toward direct potable reuse in California, however. Here's a link to our podcast episode with more details on how those rules will impact the water industry at large: www.wwdmag.com/water-reuse-recycling/podcast/33038005/talking-under-water-what-californias-new-direct-potable-reuse-regulations-mean
This is the stuff worth spending money on.
really? recycling our own feces and urine into drinking water huh? how about common sense water use regulation instead? your tax dollars fund this crap.
Nice video! Such an important topic and interesting to learn about
How do they dispose of the brine and backwash water?
It is sent back to the Orange County Sanitation District
Very good video. We wouldn’t be able to do this in Utah because the farmers own the water rights to the effluent from the wastewater plants or it has to go to the great salt lake to keep the water level up
...eventually
It would have been helpful if the energy used in the plant (say cost per cubic meter of water) could have been discussed.
It’s awesome to see people who seem to like the most boring jobs in the world and don’t mind working on them day in and day out. I wouldn’t want to live in LA without the ability to take hour long showers and around the clock lawn sprinklers
Why is it injected into the aquifer instead of going back into the potable water distribution system? Seems to me that injecting it into the ground would create inefficiencies like needing to retreat it once it comes out of a well. If the water was sent back to the distributors, it would decrease the need for water districts to pull from aquifers. What am I not considering?
I'm going to guess you're correct, and this is perfectly safe water, however 1) It's cultural, and people don't want to drink waste water. 2) Going through soil is an additional (redundant) treatment step 3) The aquifer acts as a giant storage tank allowing for peaks and troughs in demand and supply 4) They may be operating under regulations that are just a touch too stringent. Not to say that regulation isn't absolutely necessary, but looking at that process, I'd be perfectly comfortable drinking it.
Regulations at the time this plant was constructed required what is referred to as an "environmental buffer" in water reuse scenarios. The underground aquifer fulfills that requirement in the same way a that a river, stream or other body of water is the location for discharge from wastewater systems elsewhere in the country.
California approved direct potable reuse rules in November 2023, which create a regulatory framework that gets at what you've mentioned. Here's our podcast episode with two industry professionals who helped develop it: www.wwdmag.com/water-reuse-recycling/podcast/33038005/talking-under-water-what-californias-new-direct-potable-reuse-regulations-mean
Ok I’ve been thinking more about this. Is the water coming straight from the wastewater plants effluent? If so why spend so much money building the uv and chemical dosing system? The water would have just gone through that as it exited the wastewater plant
WWTPs do not produce potable water. Water that is directly injected into any aquifer has to be of the highest quality to avoid permanently polluting the aquifer.
@@SiR8081correct. But from the aquifer it is drawn into a water treatment plant where it is treated and enters the cities drinking systems. And if it is coming straight from a wastewater plants effluent the last step is uv and chemical treatment before it goes to this setup shown in the video. So in theory the water should be at an acceptable level for pathogens and coliforms
@@jbstrongman They are being extra cautious because there is a lot of "FUD" around treating waste water back to drinking standards.
As others have noted, regulations require the treatment to this degree and the use of the aquifer as an environmental buffer for indirect potable reuse. New rules approved in November of 2023 open a pathway toward direct potable reuse in California, however. Here's a link to our podcast episode with more details on how those rules will impact the water industry at large: www.wwdmag.com/water-reuse-recycling/podcast/33038005/talking-under-water-what-californias-new-direct-potable-reuse-regulations-mean