CA Farmers Want Wastewater to Treat Parched Land

Even during the drought, around 240,000 Modesto residents produce a steady stream of water — in the form of sewage

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By Lauren Sommer

KQED

Facing record-low water supplies and a dry summer ahead, some California farmers are getting creative in looking for new sources of water. In one community, they’re planning to buy water from cities — after it’s already been used.

Through flushing toilets and running faucets, the city of Modesto produces millions of gallons of wastewater a day, just a stone’s throw from some of the driest agricultural areas in the state.

In a few years, that wastewater — treated and disinfected — could flow to farms in the Del Puerto Water District, in what would be the largest urban-to-agriculture water recycling project in the state.

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