LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Welcome to southern California, thirsty traveler. Here, have a glass of 5-year-old toilet water.

Local and state officials, flushed with visions of success, will soon begin a ``toilet to tap'' project that would recycle billions of gallons of sewage water for drinking, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said on Monday.

The spokeswoman said the $55 million program, which would begin in the city's San Fernando Valley suburbs, would help ease the state's perennial water shortage. It could also help build reserves in case of a drought.

The water would undergo five years of purification and monitoring before it was mixed in with normal groundwater and sent flowing from southern California faucets, the spokeswoman said.

She said studies had shown that drinking the recycled water caused no ill effects. But some southern Californians find the prospect unappetizing.

``This is human waste,'' said Lori Dinkin of the Valley Villagers Homeowners Association in an interview with the suburban Daily News newspaper. ``I'm very uneasy about that.''

Dinkin was unimpressed by assurances by the DWP that the water was safe, telling the paper: ``They also said that about Love Canal. And they have said all these lovely things about Agent Orange. I don't like to think about this.''

Environmentalists have hailed the idea, saying southern California had depended for too long on water imported from other parts of the state.

The East Valley Water Reclamation Project would start by taking about 3.2 billion gallons (12 billion liters) of sewage water and sending it to the Hanson Dam spreading grounds, where it would be filtered naturally for several years, the Daily News said.

The water would then seep into the ground, eventually becoming part of the groundwater that is purified and supplied to customers in the Valley.

If the recycled water passed muster, the project could expand to some 11 billion gallons (41 billion liters) a year, enough to supply 70,000 families with tap water, the paper said.