Federal grant for Tucson to make wastewater drinkable

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Drinking water that started out as sewage may not sound very attractive—but it’s an attractive idea for cities looking to stretch their water supplies. Now a $86.7 Million Federal grant puts Tucson on track to build a special treatment plant able to purify wastewater so well it will be good to drink.

Getting water that’s pure and safe to drink already takes a lot of processing.

Now the City of Tucson has accepted a nearly 87 million dollar Federal grant to build a plant able to process wastewater so thoroughly it will be safe to drink.

Tucson’s water director says 2.5 million gallons a day from the plant will be between two and five percent of what the city uses each day but it’s an important start in a desert city with a growing population.

Water officials usually do not call the process toilet to tap. That catchy but unsavory title speaks to the challenge of convincing water customers to drink the purified water.

We asked Tucson water users what they think.

Frank Steel says, “I don’t think people will ever go for it. It’s got too much of a yuck factor. But who knows? You run out of water you’ll drink it. It seems to work.”

John said, “I think it’s a great idea. Same with desalination. It’s always about money. In this case, if it's cost effective why not do it?”

Tucson Water Director John Kmiek says the process can filter out hard to remove contaminants like prescription drug residues, and forever chemicals like PFAS from fire fighting foam.

He says Tucson’s not the only place treating wastewater to add another way to provide pure water.

“We're seeing advanced water purification in places like Florida, places like Texas, Colorado, Southern California. So it's a growing movement across the United States.”

He says there’s still a lot of planning before a processing plant is ready. He expects the first purified water in about six years.