All options on the table: Toolkit on purified recycled water for drinking

Want to see how purified recycled water for drinking works? These days it isn’t easy to travel somewhere and do a tour, so these cities have organised a virtual tour.

We’ve also included some websites and Frequently Asked Questions about purified recycled water for drinking (or potable reuse, as it’s often called in America). 

This cute brochure explains what happens to rain in the water cycle. It’s meant for kids but grownups might like it too!

Courtesy of Smart Approved WaterMark.

Valley Water, in Santa Clara California, engaged with their local medical community about purified recycled water in future. The Santa Clara County Medical Association ended up preparing a special issue of their Bulletin, about the value of climate-resilient water supplies. Read the June 2022 issue here.  

This timeline shows when different cities adopted purified recycled water for drinking – some over 50 years ago.

This slide pack talks about the 2006 Toowoomba referendum and asks what might be different today.

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Six video case studies of about 5 minutes each. Five are about cities that have adopted purified recycled water for drinking, and one is about the importance of research.

The Today show in America ran this 4-minute news story in April 2021, about Los Angeles’ commitment to reuse almost 100% of its wastewater by 2035.

This 90-minute webinar looks at how demonstration projects have played a key role as purified recycled water has expanded in recent decades. WSAA is joined by engineering firm Carollo, Australian health regulator David Cunliffe and we take a look inside a fixed and a mobile demonstration plant. 

This 90-minute webinar explores why visitor experiences are an integral part of demonstration projects. WSAA is joined by Linda Macpherson and Ian Law to talk about Singapore’s NEWater visitor centre, and Diane Taniguchi-Dennis who pioneered one of the first mobile demonstration units as a forward-thinking engagement tool for stakeholders and the community.

This 90-minute webinar looks at how San Diego famously overcame public rejection of reuse in the 1990s and is now building a scheme that will supply one-third of the city’s water. WSAA is joined by Jeffery Pasek who steered the project from its early days while at the City of San Diego. 

This 90-minute webinar explores purified recycled water for drinking schemes around the world. WSAA is joined by Michael Killick, City of Cape Town and Brendon Theunisse, Zutari to discuss water reuse in Cape Town after Day Zero. 

Treating purified recycled water to drinking water standard involves taking it through a multi-step treatment process, in which each treatment step plays a specific role in ensuring the highest quality water. The overall process can vary in each city, to suit its geographic and other circumstances.

These short animations (around a minute each) show how several treatment steps work, and the El Paso video shows an overall treatment process.

Reverse osmosis

Micro filtration

Ultra violet

El Paso

Wulpen Belgium Citizens Drink Recycled Water

PUB Singapore Reverse Osmosis

This WSAA report dives deeper into the one water supply option that has tended to be off the table in the past – purified recycled water for drinking.

This WSAA report details the main options available to enhance a town’s water supply. All options can make a contribution to water security, but they suit different situations. This gives an overview of the different options and presents a comparative cost comparison.