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2026-10-09Key Facts: 2026年9月18日, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that through the WIFIA program it will provide a 2.51亿 USD federal loan to the Las Virgenes-Triunfo Public Financing Authority to build an advanced water quality purification facility, providing the first local water source for approximately 10.5万 users in western Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County, with an estimated savings of 1360万 USD over the loan term. Four days later, on 9月22日, the Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved a water resources strategy to blend deeply treated Reclaimed Water into the municipal drinking water system at a ratio of up to 10%.
I. EPA Loan: 2.51亿 USD to Support a "First Local Water Source"
The 2.51亿 USD loan obtained by the Las Virgenes-Triunfo Public Financing Authority comes from the federal WIFIA (Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act) program and will be used for its Pure Water Project and upgrades to drinking water treatment facilities. The core of the project is to build an advanced water quality purification facility to treat Reclaimed Water from western Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County.
The landmark significance of this project lies in the fact that it will provide the first local water source for the Las Virgenes-Conejo area. This region has long depended on imported water transferred over long distances from Northern California, with virtually no local water source of its own. After the project is completed, the region's water supply autonomy and risk resilience will undergo a qualitative change.
II. WIFIA's Financing Design: Why It Can Save 1360万 USD
The WIFIA program was established in 2014年 to provide long-term, low-cost financing for large water infrastructure projects, and the EPA issued its first loan on 2018年. To date, the program has announced a cumulative 240亿 USD in financing, supporting drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater projects, and driving more than 17.5万 jobs.
Compared with traditional loans, WIFIA's key advantage lies in its repayment schedule:
- Deferred principal repayment — some borrowers are allowed to begin repaying principal only several years after substantial completion of the project, avoiding the window of tightest cash flow during construction and early operation.
- Reduced impact on user water rates — the EPA estimates that these financing terms will save the Las Virgenes-Triunfo Public Financing Authority 1360万 USD over the loan term, while reducing the project's impact on users' water bills.
- Ample capacity remains — the EPA states that up to 65亿 USD is still available for water systems to apply for, with an additional 5.5亿 USD for state-level infrastructure financing agencies, and letters of interest from potential borrowers are being accepted.
III. Policy Background: Water Reuse Action Plan 2.0
EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Jess Kramer specifically mentioned when announcing the loan that the EPA had launched the Water Reuse Action Plan 2.0 earlier this year in 4月, aimed at expanding strategic opportunities for Reclaimed Water Reuse to strengthen U.S. industry, energy, and economic growth, as well as local drinking water supply.
The upgrade from 1.0 to 2.0 reflects a change in the positioning of Reclaimed Water at the U.S. federal level: it is no longer merely a "supplementary means of water conservation," but has been incorporated into a strategic framework of industrial competitiveness and water supply security. Kramer pointed out that this California project will strengthen local drinking water supply under both normal and extreme conditions, while reducing demand for water from Northern California — the water saved can be reserved for agriculture and other uses, including farmers in the Central Valley.
IV. Santa Monica: Writing 10% into Municipal Drinking Water
At almost the same time, 2026年9月22日, the Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved a water resources strategy, authorizing the blending of advanced-treated Reclaimed Water into the municipal drinking water system. This marks another substantive advance by a U.S. city in the direction of "direct potable reuse of Reclaimed Water."
- Blending ratio — up to 10%. The Reclaimed Water is first treated at the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project treatment plant (located beneath the parking lot of the Civic Center, completed in 2022年12月), then further filtered at two other treatment plants, and finally blended into the municipal water supply at a ratio not exceeding 10%.
- The cost equation is clear — local groundwater costs 900 USD/acre-foot, while the city currently pays as much as 1500 USD/acre-foot for imported water. The economics of shifting to local water sources are self-evident.
- Gap-driven — the city expects a supply gap of 4500 acre-feet by 2045年, while planning to save an additional 200 acre-feet per year over the next two decades.
- Roadmap — the City Council adopted the strategy on 9月22日; the experimental Oceanwell system will undergo a pilot in 2027年2月; the city aims to maximize reuse and conservation within 5 to 10年; a regional reuse partnership is expected to become operational after 2035年.
V. Global Synchronization: Direct Potable Reuse of Reclaimed Water Is Rolling Out at Multiple Points
The two California cases are not isolated. According to tracking by Water Reuse Intelligence (2026年9月), multiple municipal direct potable reuse projects worldwide have entered substantive advancement during the same period:
- Cape Town, South Africa — the Faure New Water Scheme is expected to issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in 9月, with Phase 1 capacity of up to 70 ML/day, transforming a planned procurement into a competitive tender.
- San Diego, USA — construction progress on Phase 1 of Pure Water San Diego has reached 85%, transitioning from individual acceptance testing to phased commissioning in the mid-to-late stage of 2026年, with a target of 30 mgd; the focus is shifting from individual assets to interface integration testing of the integrated "plant—pipe—reservoir" system.
- eThekwini, South Africa — plans to package design, construction, and long-term operation into a privately financed concession to support direct potable reuse, making operational performance a long-term enforceable contractual obligation.
- Australia — in the Lockyer Valley and Somerset water security schemes, more than 100 growers have committed to subscribing over 15,000 ML, locking in demand-side commitments before construction financing (22,000 ML/year, with 500万 USD in development funding); the Thrumster sewage reuse scheme has obtained environmental approval and secured 3260万 AUD in first-year construction funding (4.7 ML/day).
These projects collectively point to one judgment: the technological and regulatory maturity of Reclaimed Water is already sufficient to support "entry into the drinking water system," the highest-tier application scenario.
VI. TIANYI TECH Perspective
TIANYI TECH believes that the biggest insight from this round of US progress lies in anchoring the value of reclaimed water to a "local water source" rather than to "water-saving metrics." Once positioned as a water source, a project naturally gains the standing to be benchmarked on equal footing with transferred water, groundwater, and desalinated water—Santa Monica's 900 versus 1500 USD/acre-foot is the most straightforward proof. For domestic enterprises, as the Regulations on Urban Drainage and Sewage Treatment (State Council Decree No. 843) explicitly incorporates reclaimed water into the unified allocation of water resources, and Shandong proposes that the reclaimed water utilization rate reach 60% by 2030年, China is moving down the same path: reclaimed water will ultimately no longer rely on subsidies, but will win the market through its cost-effectiveness as a water source.
About TIANYI LIMITED
TIANYI LIMITED specializes in the fields of sewage treatment, reclaimed water reuse, and water resource recycling, providing one-stop services from process consulting, solution design, equipment integration, and engineering implementation to smart operations and maintenance. The company is committed to advancing wastewater resource recovery through technological innovation, helping industrial enterprises and municipal clients achieve multiple goals including water conservation and carbon reduction, compliance discharge, and sustainable development.
Source: Western Water (2026年9月19日/20日), Wisevoter (2026年9月24日), American Infrastructure Magazine's report on the EPA's 2.51亿 USD WIFIA loan, and Water Reuse Intelligence (2026年9月), compiled and consolidated
