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We need to start drinking recycled wastewater

bbc.com

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Re: We need to start drinking recycled wastewater

#31

Post by 15charlimit »

jbob2000 wrote: post #16
noir_lord wrote: post #6

> finding that while 49% were willing to try recycled wastewater, 13% refused, and the rest weren't sure. This is the end result of an education system that has not prepared people for the modern world, if we engineer a solution that produces water of a purity greater than water from a reservoir and and half of people are still not sure it is safe to drink then we have a massive problem. For the record: I've no issue…

The same effect is noticed with GMO foods. They're better in all regards, yet there are people who are afraid of them because "not natural". I don't think this has to do with the education system. My friend's father has a terminal illness, and in his attempt to understand and rationalize it, he thought that he did it to himself by leading an "unnatural" lifestyle. The man has a masters in mathematics and owned a soft…

One of the issues with GMO foods is that we don't actually know for a fact exactly how the changes we make in them work, or what effect they may have in the human body over long periods of time. We just don't know.

Re: We need to start drinking recycled wastewater

#32

Post by ethbro »

jbob2000 wrote: post #16
noir_lord wrote: post #6

> finding that while 49% were willing to try recycled wastewater, 13% refused, and the rest weren't sure. This is the end result of an education system that has not prepared people for the modern world, if we engineer a solution that produces water of a purity greater than water from a reservoir and and half of people are still not sure it is safe to drink then we have a massive problem. For the record: I've no issue…

The same effect is noticed with GMO foods. They're better in all regards, yet there are people who are afraid of them because "not natural". I don't think this has to do with the education system. My friend's father has a terminal illness, and in his attempt to understand and rationalize it, he thought that he did it to himself by leading an "unnatural" lifestyle. The man has a masters in mathematics and owned a soft…

Thinking about it, this is probably a side effect of the later, dirtier portions of the industrial revolution (early-1800s-) vs the early conservation movement (mid 1800s+).

I think it's ultimately to the detriment of the environment that the preservationist/Muir/Sierra Club strain of environmentalism won out over the sustainability/Roosevelt/management view in the public consciousness.

Of course, I generally stop listening when an "environmentalist" starts railing against nuclear power without a cogent argument (of which I'll admit there are a few). Love alone doesn't save nature, sadly.

Re: We need to start drinking recycled wastewater

#33

Post by jbob2000 »

15charlimit wrote: post #31
jbob2000 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same effect is noticed with GMO foods. They're better in all regards, yet there are people who are afraid of them because "not natural". I don't think this has to do with the education system. My friend's father has a terminal illness, and in his attempt to understand and rationalize it, he thought that he did it to himself by leading an "unnatural" lifestyle. The man has a masters in mathematics and owned a soft…

One of the issues with GMO foods is that we don't actually know for a fact exactly how the changes we make in them work, or what effect they may have in the human body over long periods of time. We just don't know.

There are a lot of things we don't know. How do we know that non-GMO foods are good? Just because that's what we've done for thousands of years doesn't mean it's "right". Should we let people starve and die because "we don't know"? It's just intellectually dishonest to not use GMO foods because "we don't know". How will we ever know if we don't try them?

Re: We need to start drinking recycled wastewater

#34

Post by s_q_b »

JBReefer wrote: post #25
s_q_b wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My family owns a civil engineering company that deals with wastewater management. A lot of it is treated with bacterial vats, chemicals, and UV, and then run back into local tributaries, because while it's safe for the environment, it isn't quite safe for human consumption. A glass or two won't hurt you, but I wouldn't want to drink it regularly, mostly due to the cocktail of pharmaceuticals that can't be filtered. A…

Don't you risk building up pharmaceuticals in the soil around the forest pipes? What a weird world.

The concentrations of most of the medications (anti-depressants, contraceptives, antibiotics, etc.) are large in relation to drinking water, but small in relation to the ecosystem into which they're discharged.

Any animal that eats them can usually break them down given their low concentration and half-life, using liver enzymes, and since the majority of the chemicals are human-targeted, they often have much affect on local flora or fauna.

We have bigger problems biggest waster water management anyway. When it rains, your town probably dumps raw sewage into the nearest river through a CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow), which is... less than ideal.

The previously mentioned mechanisms are actually considered eco-friendly approaches in comparison.

So yes, it is a very weird world.

Re: We need to start drinking recycled wastewater

#35

Post by _Codemonkeyism »

djrogers wrote: post #19
zenir wrote: post #5

Most tap water in Germany is "recycled" water. I think this goes for most of Europe? Drinking tap water and adding your on carbonate is even a thing here (German use the word as synonym for carbonated water). "If anything, recycled wastewater is relatively sweet" - Said no tap water drinker ever There are still worlds between the US and Europe..

Not true - ground water accounts for 80% of Germany's drinking water, with reservoirs accounting for the rest. Germany has a very strong set of waste water treatment laws, but that treated water is either used commercially, for irrigation, or dumped into rivers and lakes, just like it is here in the US. Before you get all high and mighty with your anti-americanism, check your facts.

Not sure what -he- meant with "There are still worlds between the US and Europe", but there are worlds between Germany and the parts of the US (large cities West and East coast) where I've been.

A lot of water has such a heavy chlorine smell and taste, I can't drink it - same goes for US soft drinks that are created with tap water, can't drink. There is practically no smell or taste in German tap water [0].

[0] I might be biased and not taste it any longer because of growing up here

Re: We need to start drinking recycled wastewater

#36

Post by ethbro »

15charlimit wrote: post #31
jbob2000 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same effect is noticed with GMO foods. They're better in all regards, yet there are people who are afraid of them because "not natural". I don't think this has to do with the education system. My friend's father has a terminal illness, and in his attempt to understand and rationalize it, he thought that he did it to himself by leading an "unnatural" lifestyle. The man has a masters in mathematics and owned a soft…

One of the issues with GMO foods is that we don't actually know for a fact exactly how the changes we make in them work, or what effect they may have in the human body over long periods of time. We just don't know.

As opposed to "naturally" cross-breeding strains and selecting for traits without genetic sequencing?

Changes are changes, whether random or induced mutation. I feel better if there's at least one brain inspecting the changes vs throwing dice.

Re: We need to start drinking recycled wastewater

#37

Post by ethbro »

jbob2000 wrote: post #7

Sounds like this needs a brand change. "Recycled" kind of implies that there is still something "left behind". Why not call it BluWater or something simple and marketing-like? Follow up with some blah text like "BluWater is the freshest and cleanest water humanity has ever drank! You can get it straight from the taps!"

"Gently used" water

Re: We need to start drinking recycled wastewater

#40

Post by gherkin0 »

jkot wrote: post #26

Hm, how about reversing "toilet-to-tap" into "tap-to-toilet"? I guess its too complicated to flush toilet with water from shower or dishes.

When I visited Japan, I saw many toilets that had a little faucet/sink built into the toilet lid, so you could wash your hands with it before it was used to fill the tank.

However, I'm not sure how practical that kind of thing would be to do at house-scale. You'd need to have extra set of plumbing, plus storage tanks for the greywater (and probably pumps to get it there), among other extra things.

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