Talking Under Water: What California’s new direct potable reuse regulations mean

On December 19, 2023, the state of California passed new regulations for direct potable reuse. In this episode of Talking Under Water, Co-host Mandy Crispin, editor-in-chief of WaterWorld, talks with David Pedersen, the president of WaterReuse California, and Rosario Cortes, WaterReuse California’s regulatory affairs director about what direct potable reuse is and how and why the regulation was developed.

Show Notes:   

• California approves regulations for direct potable reuse
• 2024 Wastewater Association Forecast
• Why we shouldn't waste our wastewater

Timestamps:   

• Introduction and episode summary | 0:00
• What is direct potable reuse? | 1:09
• Comparing different water supply strategies' speed | 2:55
• How direct potable reuse rules were developed in California | 3:29
• Why set rules at the state level instead of locally? | 5:20
• Why is DPR important at this moment in time? | 8:14
• We are all downstream of someone | 9:56
• Why the timeline to make a rule has been so lengthy | 10:47
• How much will DPR methods cost communities and utilities? | 12:39
• Using a value rather than costs mindset | 15:09
• Public trust and confidence are a high priority | 16:02
• The criticality of collaboration and communication | 18:36
• Housekeeping | 20:17

Resources: 

• WaterWorld Young Pros nominations
• SWS Young Pros nominations 
• SWS Industry Icon nominations 

About the Podcast   

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, point of use, point of entry, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and on-site interviews with experts for WWD, WQP and SWS. New episodes of the podcast are released on the third Friday of every month. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.   

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected]  engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.