Technocrat

Would you (or do you) drink recycled water?

femto
Tue Jan 30 08:03:29 -0800 2007
 (in reply to Would you (or do you) drink recycled water? ) manage
The questions in my mind are "how effective is the filtration and testing?" and "what guarantees that treatment is not being subverted?"  Apparently London's water supply has measurable quantities of hormones and drugs in it, which have come from people's urine but not been removed by processing.  I'm not sure how the measured levels of these substances compare to the level at which they affect a person's body or are dangerous.  Personally I could do without a continuous low level dose of prozac.  There is also the question of whether there are substances in recycled sewerage that just aren't being tested for. Do we really know every chemical in urine and its effect on the body?  I'd view it similarly to mobile phone radiation: unlikely to be a problem, but pretty well impossible to definitively rule out under all circumstances.

I gather that in the Queensland proposal the treated water will sit in a dam for an average of three years before being consumed.  Presumably this is plenty of time for sunlight, bacteria and so on to completely break down any remaining substances?  How long before this 3 years is reduced though?  As demand for water goes up, one could imagine a government taking the cheap option and just drawing more water from the dam so reducing the standing time.

Recycled water seems to be a matter of credibility.  I'd be prepare to drink it if I knew it had been treated properly and had had time for any remaining nasties to dissipate.  The problem is that Australia's politicians have well and truly used up their credibility, to the point where most regard "politician" as a synonym for "professional liar".
Would you (or do you) drink recycled water?
r.doughty
Wed Aug 13 05:15:43 -0700 2008
 manage

I was brought up in London, and for the first 32 years of my life (before migrating to Australia) I don't believe drank I anything other than recycled water. It was not any secret, we were taught about it when I was in primary school in the mid-1940's as part our of normal education. We didn't regard it as anything special. It was always regarded as being extremely safe. Both my parents were never sick apart from the rare cold. My father lived until he was 82, and my mother passed away in 2007 at the age of 94. So what's the problem?

On my arrival in Australia I was disgusted to see all this waste being pumped out to sea polluting the ocean, especially as we live on the driest continent. I do get tired of people coming up with all these scare tactics 

 

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