Guardian News & Media Limited
As the pumps whir around us, Denis Bilodeau motions to the liquid in the vats below. It looks like iced tea, but in fact, it’s secondary-treated sewage, cleaned of any solids by the plant next door. In less than an hour, after three processing steps, we will be drinking it as pure water.
The Groundwater Replenishment System facility in Orange County, California, houses the pipes, filters, and pumps to move up to 130 million gallons each day – enough for 1 million people – processing it from dark to clear. The facility, which opened in 2008, is part of broader moves to help conserve water.
Bilodeau, the president of the water district, says: “This is going to be a blueprint for any community that’s facing water scarcity, or wants to have more locally controlled water.”
The idea is to take the water from the sanitation district next door and to push it through a three-step process – microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet light purification – to make clean water. The facility provides 45% of central Orange County’s water and helps manage stormwater inflows and reduce reliance on imported water.
