San Francisco is in talks to get a new source of drinking water that has been flushed down toilets and recycled for use.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Building opened in 2012 and has been recycling wastewater for flushing toilets. But now, individuals can drink that water.
Rain that falls on the roof of the building and water that comes out of bathrooms gets its first cleaning through the building’s wetland system. Now, the water is going to become drinkable.
“What we start with is the recycled water,” says Manisha Kothari, Project Manager for the SFPUC. “That’s the water that comes into our system. Then we put it through ultra-filtration. Then we put it through reverse osmosis, that’s our second and major step. Finally, we put it through our UV disinfection.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
As well as being tested for safety, the resulting water is so stripped down that by the end of the process; it requires minerals to be added before being put into the water system. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
According to the SFPUC, the research being done is to ensure the safety of the water. For now, the water will be returned to the building’s recycled water system. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
San Francisco plans to continue research to learn how this technology could be used in the future.
