SAN DIEGO — The final segment of the Pure Water pipeline is being installed underwater at the Miramar Reservoir. San Diego's Pure Water project will supply half of the city's drinking water by 2035.
The city says this is the last segment of the pipeline that will carry purified water from the North City Pure Water Facility through eight miles of pipeline to the reservoir. Crews have already tunneled more than 1,000 feet and now work is underway to finish building the pipeline.
"It's an ideal development of a recycled water program," said Andrew Salveson, a water reuse chief technologist.
Salveson is an expert in the water recycling process and says San Diego's Pure Water project is very innovative and a model for the rest of the state.
"That water is entirely ironclad reliable. Putting it in a loop we treat it, dispose of the residuals and have that new water supply," he said.
Pure Water will help alleviate the city's reliance on outside water sources.
"The new normal is uncertainty but the way to prepare for that is to develop these pure water projects like what San Diego is doing," he said.
The city says Phase 1 of Pure Water is 40 percent complete. Together Phase 1 and Phase 2 will produce 83 million gallons of water per day.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego's Pure Water project will reduce the need to buy imported water
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