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What if California’s coastal towns and cities drew their drinking water from the Pacific Ocean? They would no longer depend on nature’s water cycle, or be vulnerable to drought, and they would leave more water in California’s rivers for fish and farmers. This is just one reason why treatment plants are critical to California’s adaptation to climate change.
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2017-2047
New plant operators starting out in 2017 will see four trends grow during their careers.
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Desalination
The Carlsbad Desalination Plant in San Diego County is the largest in the western hemisphere, producing 50 million gallons of drinking water from the Pacific Ocean every day. A dozen more plants along California’s coast are in the planning stage.
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Potable reuse
Orange County’s Groundwater Replenishment System produces up to 100 million gallons of drinking water a day by purifying the region’s wastewater. Similar projects are in the planning stage in San Diego County.
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Waste to energy
The City of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant produces its own energy from methane gas, and it has done so for years. Now other wastewater utilities are looking to produce their own green energy.
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Onsite treatment
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission headquarters uses 65% less water than similar sized buildings by treating wastewater onsite and reusing it in the building’s toilets.
Desalination
Potable reuse
Waste to energy
Onsite treatment