Can wastewater pay for itself? I ask this because California's new commitment to add 1.8 MAF per year (6.1 million m~3/d) of recycled water to the state's freshwater resources by 2040 got me thinking about the value of wastewater as a resource (see story p14). On the face of, it reuse should be a money-spinner. At the moment, the 1.8 million acre-feet per year of wastewater that Governor Newsom has marked for reuse is valued at zero. If it could be sold to industrial or agricultural users, it could be worth as much as $2.2 billion per year (the Veles Water Index, which tracks the price of water in California's most active groundwater rights markets, currently stands at $1,200/AF, or $0.97/ m~3). The returns might be even greater if the water were treated to potable standards and sold to domestic users. The average retail price of water in California is $4,079/AF, or $3.31/m~3, according to next month's GWI water tariff survey. Selling the treated effluent that they produce could enable wastewater utilities to substantially reduce the amount they currently charge for wastewater collection and treatment (in California the average charge is currently $2,872/AF, or 2.33/m~3, according to our survey).
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