Would you (or do you) drink recycled water?

Technocrat

Would you (or do you) drink recycled water?

Kai Howells

Tue Jan 30 15:39:24 -0800 2007

(in reply to Would you (or do you) drink recycled water? )

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I don't know if it's bad form to reply to your own story submissions, but this way I can keep the story relatively factual and then put my personal slant in here =)

I think that recycled water is a necessary path to take in the current climate here in Australia - the Vic government's decision to use recycled water for industry is a great idea, and a whole lot more acceptable to the voters, but even using it for drinking, provided that the treatment is to an acceptable level, this is something we're going to have to face.

Mr Berghofer is stirring up emotional arguments to further his own goals, he's spending millions of his own money on convincing people that it's simply unacceptable, whereas people need to face the facts and make up their own minds (ha! as if!)

Having said all this, drinking water is a bit of a red-herring in this debate - it's industry that (by far) uses up the most water, and with the vast majority of this water, it would make no difference if it was recycled or fresh - it never goes near any people and is instead used for washing stuff, or cooling stuff and things like that. Irrigation is another huge waste of water, in it's current form, with open irrigation channels baking in the sun and huge quantities of water evaporating from them before the water gets to where it's needed - there was a recent development (that I'm going to have to google for) about a polymer in powder form that you can sprinkle on a pond or dam and it spreads to form a layer a couple of molecules thick and it helps cut down evaporation - otherwise, covering irrigation channels would prevent the approximately 30% of the water evaporating before it gets to where it's needed...

Would you (or do you) drink recycled water?

Richard Young

Tue Jan 30 17:59:54 -0800 2007
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They say that London water is very pure.

Anything that has been through that number of kidneys must be pure....

Would you (or do you) drink recycled water?

AB3A

Wed Jan 31 17:05:26 -0800 2007
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Since I work for a water and wastewater utility, maybe I should throw my two cents in here:

1) All these technologies for recycling water are a grand idea --when they work.

2) The problem comes in when you ask what to do if it doesn't work.

We run Tertiary treatment plants now with plans for Enhanced Nutrient Removal. The water we return to the river is actually of a better quality than the fresh water we put in the pipes for people to drink. However, things happen. We'd like our systems to be idiot proof. Avoiding water recycling removes most of the hazard.

The bottom line is that people don't go to school hoping some day to grow up and be a wastewater plant operator or supervisor. We don't get the best and brightest except by happy accident. We would need some bright and dedicated people to make a scheme like this work. Are societies up to this standard?

Would you (or do you) drink recycled water?

Bhima

Thu Feb 01 01:32:27 -0800 2007
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care to elaborate on the "Enhanced Nutrient Removal" bit?

Would you (or do you) drink recycled water?

AB3A

Thu Feb 01 10:00:14 -0800 2007
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In addition to Aerobic and Anerobic digestion, flocculation, filtering, chlorination, and sulphonation, there are other treatments to encourage bacteria to die and flocculate out. Some methods use methanol. I've even heard of using Industrial Grade Molasses (expensive!). The latter are collectively referred to as "ENR" in our part of the world. I have no idea what it might be called outside of the Chesapeake Bay region.