Recycled wastewater, or "direct potable reuse," proved successful in Orange County, and following the driest year on record in California, more cities are looking to implement water purification facilities.

Jo-Lynn Otto reports on the steps underway in two of the Silicon Valley’s larger cities to drought proof their water supplies by bringing wastewater treatments facilities online. To do so, Sunnyvale and San Jose have consulted with Orange County, which launched its own state-of-the-art water purification facility in 2008.
“Sunnyvale already has a system to recycle water back to the grid for landscaping and irrigation, and there are plans to eventually use the city’s treated wastewater for drinking…Officials with Sunnyvale and the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) call it ‘drought-proof.’” The SCVWD expects to have a direct potable reuse system online fir that city within seven years.
In San Jose, a “brand new water purification facility is about to go online. The plant will capture the effluent from the city’s sewage treatment plant, which releases about 35 billion gallons of water per year into the South Bay and directs it back into municipal use. The recycled water will not be drinkable, but SCVWD officials say it will be clean. The additional treatment needed to make the water potable is just another step around the corner.” The Advanced Water Purification Center, as it is called, will “produce about eight million gallons of clean water per day by June.”
Wastewater facilities are expected to scale up across the state, enough so that “[an] effort is now underway…to draft a set of safety standards that would allow the Department of Public Health to regulate and permit the operation of direct potable reuse facilities.”
FULL STORY: The Drought-Proof Water Supply

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower
A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.

Trump Prompts Restructuring of Transportation Research Board in “Unprecedented Overreach”
The TRB has eliminated more than half of its committees including those focused on climate, equity, and cities.

Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train
The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont