Los Angeles is considering 'direct potable reuse,' which means putting purified recycled water directly back into drinking water systems.
Trenton Guinta, left, and Bert Mantilla Jr. work at the filtration plant at the Water Replenishment District's facility at Albert Robles Center in Pico Rivera. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Water has always been recycled. The water molecules in your shower or cup of coffee might just be the same molecules that rained on dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago. With the technological advancements in water recycling, however, the water that went down your sink this morning might be back in your tap sooner than you think. The city of Los Angeles and agencies across Southern California are looking into what's known as "direct potable reuse," which means putting purified recycled water directly back into our drinking water systems. This differs from indirect potable reuse, where water spends time in a substantial environmental barrier such as an underground aquifer or in a reservoir. Water recycling experts shudder at the infamous phrase "toilet to tap," an alliteration that became popular with politicians and headline writers alike in the late 1990s when projects for using recycled water for groundwater replenishment were beginning to take shape in the San Gabriel Valley and city of Los Angeles. Miller Brewing Co. and community groups vigorously opposed the San Gabriel Valley project, even suing agencies involved over the environmental impact reports. Today, recurring cycles of devastating drought as well as advancements in science have softened that view. "There's been a public health legacy where sanitary engineering practices and regulators considered sewage a waste, it was something to be avoided, something to be feared," said Brad Coffey of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. "Now that we have the technology … the public, the regulators, the scientific community has much greater confidence in our ability to safely reuse that water supply." Their efforts hinge on the State Water Resources Control Board, which has been tasked by…