Did you know about the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center? I was honored to get to go on a tour of the plant this Summer and if you are able to do so, I highly recommend it. It’s the future of our water, it’s a drought proof supply, it’s controlled locally and it’s more cost effective than buying water from other area, which is what we currently do sometimes.
In the future much more of our local water supply will be purified so now is a great time to learn about it and help educate your friends and neighbors. The water that goes through the purification process is treated waste water.
It goes through 3 different steps; micro filtration, reverse osmosis, and ultra violet light disinfection. Currently the water is being used for irrigation and industrial uses, but the District has future plans to add one more step, advanced oxidation, and then mix that highly purified water back into our local groundwater supply.
Eventually, the plant, and other local purification centers, will produce up to 14 billion gallons of clean water for groundwater replenishment.
Right now, 55% of Silicon Valley’s water supply is imported from the Sierra Nevada mountains in an average year. The cost of the water goes up every year. It makes perfect sense to figure out a way to buy less or even none of it and create/make clean water for ourselves. I love this idea and I'm interested in this topic and have been my entire life. Anyone who grew up in California can tell you that dealing with droughts is just part of the price you pay for living here. I find it reassuring to know that there is some kind of amazing technology that can create safe, clean water for our future. Let's do it!
The benefits of having locally purified water are that it enhances our recycled water quality, it creates a locally controlled, high quality water supply, it increases water reliability, even during droughts, it helps reduce our dependency on water from the Delta, it protects the environment by reusing a precious resource, and it reduces waste water discharge to the San Francisco Bay and the preserves and tidal habitat.
I got to drink some of the water and it tasted great. It was crystal clear and sparking clean. Here’s a link to Santa Clara Valley Water District for more information about Drought Watch. For more information or to take a tour of the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center, contact Marta Lugo at 408-630-3533 or go to purewaterSV.org.