California approves rules for converting sewage waste to drinking water

California regulators on Tuesday cleared the way for widespread use of advanced filtration and treatment facilities designed to convert sewage waste into pure drinking water that can be pumped directly into systems feeding millions of household taps. Proven technologies capable of recycling wastewater for human consumption, a concept once derided by critics as "toilet to tap," have gained greater credence in recent years as water-conscious California faces worsening drought cycles from climate change. More than a decade in the making, the regulations adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board represent a landmark in the quest to reclaim some of the hundreds of millions of gallons of waste discharge that flows out to sea unused each year, supporters say.