Direct Potable Reuse? How Thirsty Do We Have to Be?
Moderator: Douglas Wallace , Environmental Affairs Officer , East Bay Municipal Utility District
Participants: David Smith , Managing Director , WateReuse California
Jennifer Clary , Water Policy Analyst , Clean Water Action
Jim McDaniel , Sr. Assistant General Manager , Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
Bahman Sheikh , Consultant , Water Recycling, Reclamation & Reuse
Description:

For many years, water recycling has provided a steady, drought-resistant water supply for a variety of non-potable uses including irrigation, industrial cooling, manufacturing, and aquifer protection. In the meantime, wastewater treatment processes have become far more advanced, resulting in cleaner effluents. Now, caught between the pressures of increasing demand and tighter water supplies, water agencies are beginning to take another look at options once considered off the table. One of these is direct potable reuse. Can we imagine a future where our wastewater is treated to such a degree that we can put it right back into our water distribution systems? Is this future already here? Come and find out what several experts have to say about this prospect, and bring your own thoughts and questions.

Discussion Questions:

• Has the time for direct potable reuse arrived? Why or why not? If the time isn't right now, what might be the right conditions?

• Compare the dis/advantages of direct vs. indirect potable reuse.

• Are trace contaminants, including endocrine disruptors, a fatal flaw or a manageable problem?

• How do potable reuse treatment costs compare with desalination?

• What are the main impediments to the widespread adoption of direct potable reuse?