Introduction
Los Angeles

In the spring of 2000, the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced a new plan for the water that leaves theiir wastewater treatment facility. Instead of returning this water to the local river system, they proposed injecting this water back into the ground. This water would then percolate through the local rock into the regional aquifer, just as rainwater does. After a period of about five years, during which it mixed with other groundwater, this water would reach the water department's production wells, were it would be pulled out of the ground, treated, and sent to the public faucets.

Needless to say, this plan was met with a fair amount of derision in many public forums. People complained about the planned recycling of water, questioning the safety of just such a plan. After a wave of criticism, the project was delayed for further study. Of course, the developers of the plan should have expected this. When a similar plan was proposed in San Diego the year before, it was promptly killed.

Wastewater Treatment

The problem that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power faced was really one of education. People today have no idea what the source of their water is. For most people, the answer to the question "Where does your water come from?" is "From the tap, silly." While ignorance about the origin of drinking water is enormous, it pales in comparison to that about where the wastewater goes after it leaves one's home. Few people realize that the wastewater that leaves their home does not just evaporate away, leaving behind the solid waste. This water is usually sprayed out on the land somewhere near the treatment facility, or it is returned to the local river or ocean system. In either case, this water is returned to the environment, where it can brought back into the water supply for someone.

The following websites will give you more information about wastewater treatment plants and the controversy surrounding the Los Angeles plan. Read through them and answer the questions below.

Information about wastewater treatment

EPA
History
Greeley, Colorado Virtual Wastewater Tour

Los Angeles Plan

CNN Article

After reading through these and any other sites that you might find, answer the following questions:

• Should the citizens of Los Angeles have been concerned by the recycled water system plan that was proposed by the Department of Water and Power? Would you have consumed the water that had gone through such a system? Why or why not?
• As we previously stated, many wastewater treatment plants return their treated water back into the local river system, where it mixes with water that did not go through the system and heads downstream. Any city below the wastewater treatment plant that uses the river for its water supply, therefore, will be using water that has come out of the sewage treatment plant. New Orleans gets its municipal water from the Mississippi River, which contains treated water from almost every wastewater treatment plant that empties its water into a river throughout the central U.S. Which water would you rather drink, the proposed recycled water in L.A., or the normal tap water in New Orleans? Why?
• How does your local wastewater treatment plant dispose of its water? Who is impacted by using this method?