Purified: How Recycled Sewage Is Transforming Our Water

Environmental journalist Annin (The Great Lakes Water Wars) presents a geographical and political overview of the fresh water shortage and proposed solutions throughout the U.S. The book covers the failure of San Diego’s efforts to turn waste water into drinkable water in the 1990s, credited in part to the terrible tagline “From toilet to tap”; the successful Water Factory 21 project in Orange County, CA; coastline dangers in Norfolk, VA; Texas’s attempts at potable programs in Big Spring and Wichita Falls; Tampa’s ongoing issues; Los Angeles’s recent big proposals; and the continuous disappearance of the Colorado River. The science is as interesting as the politics in this book. Each chapter reveals that the imperative for clean water isn’t universally accepted in each community. Maps at the beginning of each chapter aid in the understanding of the geography, and numerous charts explain the science of purification, including the differences in East Coast and West Coast systems. There are water success stories in Wisconsin and New England, but the threat of mega droughts and aridification never abates.