Earlier this year San Diego in confirming its effort to move on it's plan for indirect potable reuse ( toilet to tap), may require another rate increase of about 6.5% of the current rates to fund the pilot program.
San Diego in it's effort to offset the diminishing supply of potable water, estimated what a toilet to tap supplementation pilot project to our our current water supply would cost using the reservoir augmentation method. This toilet to tap purifying of waste water has its share of opposition but the city council seems determined that with the drought and continually escalating costs of water ( 90% of San Diego's water has to purchased), this is the method that seems to make the most sense to them.
This is said to be the first first system of its kind in the California. Another notable reclamation system is that of Orange County. Their system is different than what is proposed for San Diego in that it uses an aquifer system for recycling its waste water. The program San Diego is interested in is called Reservoir Augmentation.
San Diego currently runs other two major facilities for purifying waste water directed at irrigation and industrial use. It uses what is called purple pipes for transporting the water but the city has not expanded it pipe laying program , likely because of current budget constraints, to get the reclaimed to water to more locations that use large volumes of water such as municipal golf courses and other types of high water use businesses.
In the Fall of 2007, the San Diego council voted for a pilot project for the reservoir augmentation program*. For the trial period , the reclaimed water would be used strictly for industrial and irrigation purposes. The cost of the pilot program was recently updated to be in the neighborhood of about 12 million dollars that would necessarily include a treatment plant estimated to be at 7.5 million. * This pilot program was vetoed by the city administration but was overturned by the city council in December 2007. The rate increase of about 6.5% would be is needed to provide the funding for this pilot program and the rate increase proposed which has not yet been considered will come to the council later this year..
In the meantime, San Diegans will likely have to endure yet another rate hike of 6.26% for just the increased cost of purchasing water, if this new hike in rates is passed on by a council vote expected in September. The rates would go up very early next year. The combined rate hikes since July 2007, coupled together with these two new proposed hikes could raise the cost of the average consumers bill by up to 40% by late 2009. And until San Diego can get this pilot program underway and locate whatever other resources may be available and affordable, the rates will most likely continue to climb.
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