Such a possibility elicits various reactions including disgust, marvel and fear. Although the public generally trusts and admires modern technology, politicians and even scientists fear the grave repercussions a technological failure of this kind would bring. What is under debate is exactly how risky the project would be and what the alternatives and their cost would be.
Treated wastewater is nothing new, but using it for drinking water is.
San Diego County's robust economy and prosperity is a captive prisoner to water availability, and there isn't enough to keep up with the growth. The County's population of 2.7 million is expected to reach 3.8 million by 2015, which translates into an estimated demand of about 900,000 acre-feet by 2010. Since over 200,000 acre-feet of San Diego's treated wastewater is discharged into the ocean each year, repurification became one of the logical steps to help make up the shortfall. The initial plan is to repurify 22,000 acre-feet of wastewater and blend it with raw drinking water in a surface reservoir. Diversion options are included to prevent blending should pre-established water quality criteria not be met.