photo by Dino Abatzidis (atomicshark on Flickr CC)
Asking someone whether he or she would mind drinking a glass of water that has already passed through a human body might be a misleading question.
Of course all water on Earth has been ‘recycled’ by evaporation and then returned in the form of rain. But in the more direct sense, i.e., by human technological means, many of you have already consumed recycled or ‘reclaimed’ water, whether you know it or not.
Cities on the Thames River in the UK – London being the biggest example – use reclaimed water in their drinking water supply. Raw sewage is treated and then emptied into the Thames upstream and then the river water is further treated in reservoirs, some of it eventually coming out of London taps.
In related news, only yesterday the California state Senate passed a bill allowing greywater (water containing human waste) systems in homes and businesses.
The great big State of Texas is also moving forward with major plans for recycled water usage.
From KDAF TV (Dallas/Fort Worth):
The Big Spring plant, which will take sewage that has already gone through a wastewater treatment plant and treat it further before blending it into a pipeline with lake water, should be operational by late 2012, said John Grant, general manager of the Colorado River Municipal Water District, which is building it. It appears to be the first plant of this kind in the state, and one of few if any in the country that are taking such a direct approach to sewage reuse.
On the antipodean side of the planet, governments in Australia are looking at options for recycled water usage in industry and green spaces.
The ‘yuck’ factor in drinking recycled water is understandable, and is irrelevant when applied to watering golf courses and front lawns with reclaimed water. But those who live in arid areas and mega-cities may have to get used the idea of drinking water that has at one time already been drunk.
When all is said and done, in one way or another, we do it anyway.