Survey: Is Recycling Water A Good Idea?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.28.07
In Orange County, they just built a $481 million plant to purify sewage to such a degree that you can drink the output; they are going to inject it back into the ground to refill the aquifer. Others think this is a bad idea, that it is unlikely to win public acceptance, and may be dangerous. The phrase “toilet to tap” is not particularly appetizing, but the stuff is tested clean going out and coming in. (see earlier post here)
They already do it in Africa, Singapore and the UK, and are planning it in Australia. One concern is that people may turn back to bottled water just when we are making headway in convincing them to drink tap.
« The SwissEx: Making Environmental Monitoring High-Tech in Switzerland |
The TH Interview: Oliver Hauck, President and CEO of Siemens Transportation Systems »
During the cold war west berlin had only limited access to drinking water. The cleaned sewage water was therefor used as drinking water. It worked.
Well just bottle that water and maybe people will turn to tap. Call it Sh*twater or something. Or Pee and put it in a yellow bottle.
I once heard a guy (on tv) justifying bottled water by saying that "by the time tap water reaches you, they say it's already been through six or seven other people."
This idea is clearly ridiculous: your water has probably made it through untold thousands of organisms, from the dinosaurs to us. And it's been distilled thousands of times.
This seems like a completely sensible idea. So are ideas 3 and 5. But they're not mutually exclusive.
I would like to check ALL of the first 3!
Technically, virtually ALL water is recycled. I'm not seeing the big deal. I think people would totally freak out if you told them vegetables are grown in feces. Call it "fertilizer" and suddenly it's OK. It's just a matter of marketing.
If its good enough for astronauts its good enough for me.
It has nothing to do with disgust for me, it is a question of privatization of vital resources.
I would not want the Coca-Cola corporation controlling my water supply, whether it's by selling me Dasani or purifying sewage.
So recycling water is a good idea as long as people don't lose local control of their water supply. Although it is probably not necessary. I would rather rely on a well, or try to design a distillation unit. In fact people need to scrutinize the whole recycling business more often. It's a for-profit industry just like mining and other means of natural resource collection.
[Incidentally, the comment about tap water passing through six or seven people before you is a total lie aimed at selling bottled water. Dasani and Aquafina both just publicly admitted their bottled water is nothing but tap water.]
I agree with Daniel Quinn the first 3 are all good.
In London, your average glass of water has been through somebody else six times before you - so big deal!!! If it's filtered fully it is probably cleaner than bottled water!