Toilet to lobbyists

Formerly known as toilet-to-tap, the ongoing initiative by GOP mayor Kevin Faulconer to turn the city’s sewage water into a drinkable liquid has become a major moneymaker for local lobbyists. “An initial 15-million gallon per day water purification facility is planned to be in operation by 2023,” says the city’s website of what has been renamed the “Pure Water” program. “The long term goal, producing 83 million gallons of purified water per day (one third of San Diego’s future drinking water supply), is planned to be reached by 2035.”

To get a piece of the action, Broomfield, Colorado engineering firm MWH Global has paid the Clay Company $19,000 to help it obtain a contract for “as-needed Engineering Technical Services Consultant for Pure Water San Diego Program.” Clay lobbyists Maddy Kilkenny and Stephanie Saathoff reported giving $250 each to the city-council campaign of Democrat Carol Kim, according to the firm’s October 27 disclosure filing.