Refinery plan may save drinking water
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RICHMOND, CALIF. — Contra Costa County’s plan to salvage more sewer and storm drain water for use at the Chevron refinery could save an extra 5 million gallons of drinking water each day, regional water officials said.
A plant to be built on Chevron’s property by next year would filter about 8 million gallons of wastewater daily for landscaping use.
The county now channels about 3 million gallons of treated wastewater to the Chevron facility each day, with the remainder coming from fresh drinking water sources.
The 8 million gallons saved equals the amount of drinking water used each day by about 25,000 families of five.
About 400,000 water customers in counties east of San Francisco Bay could face mandatory water rationing in coming months because of light rainfall and a thin snowpack in the Sierra Nevada this winter.
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