The City Council overturned Mayor Jerry Sanders’ veto against water recycling today.
In overturning the veto, the council paved the way for a pilot program in which the city would treat sewage so that it’s suitable to be reused as tap water. Council members Scott Peters, Toni Atkins, Donna Frye, Jim Madaffer and Ben Hueso voted for the program, as they did Oct. 29 before Sanders vetoed it two weeks later. Council members Kevin Faulconer, Tony Young and Brian Maienschein voted against it.
The program would treat some sewage and pipe it into the San Vicente Reservoir, where the recycled water would be stored. The process would give San Diego a new source for local water and reduce the amount of sewage dumped into the ocean. However, the mayor has argued that it’s too costly and would result in higher water rates.