The city of Norman is looking to turn wastewater into drinking water. The city is not the first to do this. It has already been done in western parts of the country.Norman is worried about future droughts and looking at creative ways to keep Lake Thunderbird full.So, how exactly are they going to turn wastewater into drinking water? First, the city said they will clean wastewater to safe drinking water act standards and then pump it into Lake Thunderbird. When water is pulled out of Thunderbird, it is then cleaned again before hitting the tap.”If this water can be cleaned to a level of cleanliness which we have proven it can,” said Chris Mattingly, Norman Utilities Director. “Our communities all be comfortable that we use it to augment our lake with to keep it full of water so that we can bring that back and use it for drinking water.”This would not just impact Norman. In order for this to go forward, Norman would have to get Del City and Midwest City on board because all three of them use Lake Thunderbird as a drinking water source.
NORMAN, Okla. —
The city of Norman is looking to turn wastewater into drinking water.
The city is not the first to do this. It has already been done in western parts of the country.
Norman is worried about future droughts and looking at creative ways to keep Lake Thunderbird full.
So, how exactly are they going to turn wastewater into drinking water?
First, the city said they will clean wastewater to safe drinking water act standards and then pump it into Lake Thunderbird. When water is pulled out of Thunderbird, it is then cleaned again before hitting the tap.
“If this water can be cleaned to a level of cleanliness which we have proven it can,” said Chris Mattingly, Norman Utilities Director. “Our communities all be comfortable that we use it to augment our lake with to keep it full of water so that we can bring that back and use it for drinking water.”
This would not just impact Norman. In order for this to go forward, Norman would have to get Del City and Midwest City on board because all three of them use Lake Thunderbird as a drinking water source.
