“Toilet-to-tap” (or “toilet to tap”) is another term for “recycled water.” The term is unpalatable to some, with a clear reminder of the source (the toilet) of the water. The term “toilet-to-tap” was first popularized in California from 1997-2000, and then became the subject of many news articles during California’s 2015 drought.
 
   
30 August 1971, Charleston (WV) Gazette, pg. 13, cols. 3-4 photo caption:
TOILET TO TAP…Sewage as it enters the Charleston waste treatment plant, left, then goes through the settling stage, and emerges sparkling clear. The bottle on the far right is tap water, scarcely distinguishable from the effluent.
 
Google Groups: alt.radio.broadcasting.open
Roger Hedgecock Show - KOGO/San Diego 9/17/97
Steve Cosio
9/16/97
THE ROGER HEDGECOCK SHOW
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S COMMUNITY FORUM
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 17TH, 1997
NEWSRADIO 600 KOGO (12:20 - 4:00PM)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA (HOMETOWN OF THE RADIO MAYOR)
(...)
WEB STUFF..we’re also trying to be productive while the boss is away..We’ve put the artwork for the brand new RUSH & ROGER billboards up on the website..click on the board and you get info on the duo and various, “how to contact,” stuff. We’re also putting audio clips on the page so that you may re-live the magic moments of “Toilet to Tap,”
 
Google Books
Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse:
Water Quality Management Library, Volume 10
Edited by Takashi Asano
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press LLC
1998
Pg. 1439:
The second two groups were presented several “toilet-to-tap” visuals designed to underscore the wastewater origin of the water.
 
Google Groups: alt.mining.recreational
Certain Mining Operations Have Not Hurt Pristine Alaskan River
Bob Johnson
10/27/98
(...)
Here in San Diego, California, they proposed putting treated wastewater back into the reservoirs.  After treatment it is actually cleaner than the water currently in the reservoir, and it sits for years before getting processed again.  The science is valid and proven, but the politicians labeled it “toilet-to-tap” which went over real well.  Folks don’t want to know that we get our current drinking from the Colorado River, downstream from many sewage treatment plants !!
 
Google Groups: misc.rural
Septic system technologies
Arthur Ward
7/8/99
(...)
I talked to a wastewater specialist and he said that “toilet to tap” is a well tested technology.  I’m trying to find out how many residences use such technologies.
 
18 April 2000, Rockford (IL) Register Star,  “Calif. considers toilet-to-tap water” (AP), pg. 4A, col. 1:
LOS ANGELES—California officials want to make a splash by taking recycling to the next step—turning toilet water into drinking water.
 
Officials insist that the program is feasible, safe and a solution to California’s water shortage problem. Some think the idea is revolting.
 
Google Books
Don’t Drink the Water:
The Walkerton Tragedy
By Brenda Lee Burke
Victoria, BC: Trafford
2001
Pg. ?:
He touched on a “toilet to tap in five years” scenario.
 
Google Books
Common Waters, Diverging Streams:
Linking Institutions to Water Management in Arizona, California, and Colorado
By William Andrew Blomquist, Edella Schlager and Tanya Heikkila
Washington, DC: RFF Press
2004
Pg. 140:
For both regulatory and political reasons, water reuse cannot be direct, even when the water has been purified to a quality superior to drinking water standards. (The political death phrase is “toilet to tap.”)
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Toilet to tap : San Diego’s “pipe deam” officially dubbed : “reservoir augmention” or “repurified water”
Author: Mary Quartino; Revolting Grandmas.
Publisher: [Spring Valley, CA? ]: Mountain Printers, [2006?]
Edition/Format:   Print book : English
 
Los Angeles (CA) Times
Revisiting ‘toilet to tap’
By MARC B. HAEFELE AND ANNA SKLAR
AUGUST 26, 2007
(...)
The problem? “Indirect potable reuse” got a bad new name: “toilet to tap.”
 
Google Books
Bottlemania:
Big Business, Local Springs, and the Battle over America’s Drinking Water
By Elizabeth Royte
New York, NY: Bloomsbury USA
2008
Pg. 216:
As bad as toilet-to-tap sounds, I have to remind myself: all water is recycled.
 
Google Books
October 2008, San Diego (CA) magazine, pg. 44, col. 2:
I don’t mind people saying “toilet-to-tap,” but I think they need to realize it’s exactly what they’re getting today.
 
CNBC
California drought gives ‘toilet to tap’ a new level of attention
* Cheaper than other drought-fighting methods
* ‘Direct potable reuse’ in works
* Public support at 73% in San Diego
Jeff Daniels | @jeffdanielsca
Wednesday, 15 Apr 2015 | 1:43 PM ET
As the California drought worsens, some communities such as Orange County, San Diego and the Silicon Valley are expanding water recycling programs, and support for “toilet to tap” programs appears to be growing from a once-squeamish public.
 
Twitter
Aquavist
‏@Aquavist_MB
“Toilet to Tap,”—All this needs is a rebrand and it should be good to go #California http://buff.ly/1LI8nX2  #Sustainability #Environment
1:26 PM - 27 May 2015
 
Twitter
Used to Useful
‏@UsedtoUseful
Instead of thinking of #recycledwater as “toilet-to-tap”, we should try thinking of it as “shower to flower”: http://bit.ly/1ScObS6
11:01 AM - 31 May 2015