Bay Area Might Explore Recycling Toilet Water For Use As Drinking Water

Fifty-eight percent of San Francisco Bay Area residents polled by the Bay Area Council said that they would not be opposed to drinking purified toilet water, according to The Star.

The poll suggests that Bay Area residents are changing their attitudes toward treated water in light of the state's massive drought. 75 percent of people polled said that they support the construction of more desalination plants, and 88 percent said they support an expanded use of recycled water for more than just golf courses, carwashes, and outdoor spaces.

Rufus Jeffris, a spokesperson for the Bay Area Council, told The Star that this is a "high number" for a place as environmentally conscious as San Francisco. "This all suggests that people want to look more seriously at these types of solutions that, in the past, haven't had this great acceptance either because of environmental, health, or cost reasons," Jeffris said.

This is not a new idea: Silicon Valley has already developed a facility to turn sewage water into drinking water. Bill Gates even funded a project to turn wastewater into clean water.

Orange County, California, and Wichita Falls, Texas, currently use water treatment systems to turn sewage water into drinking water.