Dr. David Sedlak: Wastewater reuse in U.S. communities
SciLine interviews experts and then makes the video and other resources rapidly available for TV newsrooms to use on air.
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Several states and the federal government are taking action to incentivize wastewater re-use—as drought, climate change and increasing demand strain local water supplies. Meanwhile, some U.S. communities have already invested billions of dollars in drinking water reuse infrastructure. On July 13, 2026, SciLine interviewed Dr. David Sedlak, a professor of environmental engineering and director of the Berkeley Water Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
TV bundle includes:
- Soundbite (SOT)
- VOSOT script (can be used as-is or modified)
- Raw, full-length interview video & log with timecodes (upon request via form below)
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Soundbite (SOT) and pronouncer
Downloadable video of the soundbite
High definition (mp4, 1280x720)
- Click for VOSOT script (can be used as-is or modified)
-
ANCHOR
IN THE RUSH TO BUILD DATA CENTERS…SEVERAL STATES ARE TURNING TO WASTEWATER RECYCLING TO FIND ENOUGH WATER TO KEEP DATA CENTERS COOL.
THIS INVOLVES TAKING WATER THAT’S ALREADY BEEN THROUGH A SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT…AND REUSING IT FOR ANOTHER PURPOSE LIKE COOLING.VO
DATA CENTERS RUN HOT… AND THEY RELY ON AN INCREASINGLY SCARCE RESOURCE TO KEEP FROM OVERHEATING… WATER.
WITH DROUGHT AND WATER SHORTAGES IN MANY PLACES… SOME DATA CENTERS ARE TURNING TO WATER RECYLING… THAT’S TAKING USED WATER AND TREATING IT AGAIN, SO IT CAN BE REPURPOSED FOR THINGS LIKE COOLING.
BUT DOCTOR DAVID SEDLAK IS A PROFESSOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY… HE SAYS IT ISN’T AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS.SOT
Duration: 0:52
Super: Dr. David Sedlak, Professor of Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley
“Many of the data centers that are being built are located quite far away from the source of the recycled water. So in a city that’s not already recycling its wastewater, you’d have to locate the data center right next to the sewage treatment plant. And oftentimes the decisions about where to locate data centers mean that it’s unlikely they’ll be right next to a sewage-treatment plant. In cities that already have recycled water systems. It’s pretty easy to plumb a data center into a recycled water line, if there’s a specific water line that’s taking that recycled water out and around the city. But oftentimes, all of the recycled water is already spoken for by other customers. And so it can be challenging in those places to find the additional water for the data center.”VO
EVEN IF A DATA CENTER CAN’T USE RECYCLED WATER DIRECTLY…DOCTOR SEDLAK SAYS IT CAN STILL PLAY A ROLE IN EXPANDING THE SUPPLY.
BY FUNDING A NEW WATER RECYCLING PROJECT…A DATA CENTER CAN CREATE MORE RECYCLED WATER FOR THE COMMUNITY…AND SUPPORT ITS OWN FUTURE WATER NEEDS.
Raw, full-length interview covers:
- How climate change is creating a need to recycle wastewater;
- The different types of reuse (e.g., for irrigation, industrial use, or drinking water);
- How wastewater recycling technology works;
- Whether recycled water is safe to drink;
- Why wastewater reuse may not solve water consumption by data centers;
- The U.S. communities that are at the forefront of drinking water reuse; and
- What communities should know when considering a local water reuse project.