The San Diego City Council has approved borrowing $614 million to start construction of the city’s recycled drinking water project.
The loan, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Program, will finance nearly half of the first phase of Pure Water San Diego, a multi-year program that will use proven water purification technology to clean recycled water to produce safe, high-quality drinking water.
The $614 million loan will cover 49% of the $1.25 billion project. There will be a second reading of the ordinance by the city council in two weeks to officially authorize the loan.
The Pure Water program will eventually recycle up to 83 million gallons of wastewater per day. It is one of the major sustainability projects that support Mayor Faulconer’s Climate Action Plan.
The first phase of Pure Water – scheduled to begin construction in 2019 and open in 2021 – calls for new construction, upgrades to existing facilities and construction of new pump stations and pipelines.
The new North City Pure Water Facility would be constructed on a city-owned parcel east of Interstate 805 and north of Eastgate Mall – across from the existing North City Water Reclamation Plant.
The second and third phases of Pure Water will build water facilities and pipelines in the Central Area and South Bay, respectively.
