Recycling Water in San Diego
Recycled water (also referred to as reclaimed water) is approved for many uses. Careful monitoring by state health officials and water quality-control agencies ensures that recycled water produced by the City of San Diego meets all federal, state, and local water-quality standards. For more than 50 years, recycled water has been safely used throughout the country in recreational lakes, sprinkler systems for homes and businesses, food-crop irrigation, and manufacturing processes. The practice of recycling water for drinking purposes is a newer one, and is not currently done in the City of San Diego, although the city plans to do so in the future, with wastewater being purified to an advanced stage that meets all state and federal drinking-water standards.
The City of San Diego provides recycled water to more than 500 customer meters, including a connection with the City of Poway by which Poway subsequently serves its customers. The City of San Diego also provides a wholesale supply of recycled water to the Olivenhain Municipal Water District. While most customers use recycled water for landscape irrigation, customers located in the City of San Diego also use it for commercial cooling towers and industrial processes.
The Northern Service Area recycled-water distribution facilities include two recycled-water storage tanks, two pump stations, and 83 miles of pipeline. These facilities extend from the coast to Poway. The distribution system in the Southern Service Area consists of a pipeline in Dairy Mart Road that provides recycled water wholesale to the Otay Water District. Subsequently, the Otay Water District delivers recycled water to its customers located in their service area for irrigation. The system also serves recycled water to the adjacent International Boundary and Water Commission Wastewater Treatment Plant to use for industrial processes.
