It could be one of the biggest drought busting moves by California in decades. State regulators have cleared the way for water districts to turn your home’s wastewater—what goes down the toilet and down the sink—into tap water coming out of your faucet.
"We always, collectively as a society looked at wastewater as what it says...it's a waste product. But, it's not. it's just water with stuff in it that we have to remove," said Mike McNutt, who is with the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.
The district serves parts of the Conejo Valley, as well as areas of western Los Angeles County. Unlike many districts which have diversified water supplies, it relies on the Metropolitan Water District for State Water Project water. So, being able to clean and reuse millions of gallons of water a week is a huge goal for the district.
"The State Water Resources Control Board for about 13 years has been looking at developing regulations to use something called direct potable reuse," said McNutt. He said it's already being allowed in Colorado, is being used in parts of Texas, and he thinks it will be widely implemented around the world.
McNutt said it could mean the next drought won’t pose the same type of crisis for the district as those in the past.
"It provide an additional tools for water agencies," said the Las Virgenes official. "There's more possibilities have having a reliable water supply."
McNutt said many districts took the first step in this direction a long time ago, cleaning wastewater to the point it could be reused for irrigation.
But, the plan is to add more purification steps to the process, for what’s called direct potable reuse. He said there will be a total of seven steps in the purification process, bringing the water to higher than traditional drinking water standards.
One of the biggest problems with the toilet to tap concept isn’t the technology. It exists. In fact, it can create water so pure minerals needed to be added to it.
It's the public perception of wastewater leaving your house returning through your faucet. Those in the water business dislike the toilet to tap label often used because of the image it creates.
The Las Virgenes District started pursing the concept years ago. It built a fully functioning small scale version of one of the purification facilities in Calabasas. It’s set up to show the public the process, hosting tours and special events so people can see it firsthand, and sample the purified water.
Kaylee Norman is at the facility, and takes a sip of a glass of recycled water. "I've been educated to see how the process goes, and it's not scary," said Norman. "It's no longer wastewater. It's just water."
Allie Alejo also gives the water a try. "It's softer than regular water," said Alejo. "It just tastes like regular clean water."
The district is already in the process of planning the facilities for the additional purification, and hopes to have its system operational in 2028.
McNutt says Ventura and Oxnard are working on similar efforts.
