New El Paso facility will recycle toilet water into drinking water to fight looming shortages
El Paso is building what could be the nation's first system to send purified wastewater directly into homes as part of its long-term plan to conserve and expand drinking water supplies in the face of mounting drought.
Alejandra Martinez reports for The Texas Tribune.
In short:
- El Paso Water’s $295 million Pure Water Center, set to launch in 2028, will convert wastewater directly into drinking water, producing up to 10 million gallons daily — nearly 10% of the city's average daily use.
- The city has led water reuse for decades, with efforts ranging from using treated wastewater for irrigation in the 1960s to operating one of the world’s largest inland desalination plants since 2007.
- The project gained early public support through education campaigns launched after a severe 2013 drought, and is now seen by experts as a potential model for other drought-prone cities.
Key quote:
“Everything is about recycling — except water? If we’re investing in desalination, why not reuse what we already have?”
— Gilbert Trejo, vice president of operations and technical services at El Paso Water
Why this matters:
Water scarcity is rapidly becoming a defining environmental challenge in the American Southwest. In cities like El Paso, where annual rainfall barely reaches nine inches and river and groundwater sources are dwindling, reliance on traditional water infrastructure is increasingly untenable. The Rio Grande, a key surface water source, now runs at a fraction of its historical flow, and aquifers face decades of overuse. As climate change drives longer droughts and growing populations strain supplies, cities are turning to unconventional options to survive.
Read more: Arizona’s developers fight water limits in a dark-money showdown
