CA town begin turning sewage water into drinking water
48 Comments Published by clay November 26th, 2007 in State and Local Politics.California town begin turning sewage water into drinking water
Flush a toilet in west Lathrop, and that wastewater – once it’s treated – might irrigate a new neighborhood park or schoolyard.
Officials across the state are searching for new uses for old water, thus saving the best and cleanest water for your tap.
About 500,000 acre-feet of wastewater is recycled each year in
But there’s potential to nearly quadruple the amount of recycled water by the year 2030, state officials report. That could ease water shortages and relieve pressure on the Delta, from which 25 million Californians get at least some of their water.
Lathrop’s wastewater is treated, of course, before being piped to parks and schoolyards.
“It’s very clean water. It comes pretty close to meeting drinking-water standards,” said
While everyone seems to think recycling water is important, officials are working on standards to make sure contaminants remaining in treated wastewater don’t cause more harm than good.
Some water agencies say the proposed rules are too tough and will limit recycling opportunities, causing more wastewater to be discharged to rivers and streams.
Conservation groups, however, call for more stringent controls.
Recycled water can contain not only salt, but metals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. These can pass through the water-treatment process, says the
“Using recycled water to increase supply is only effective when the water quality of existing resources is protected,” alliance director Linda Sheehan said.
Some
» In Lathrop, all of the wastewater from development west of Interstate 5 is reused, Keaton said.
“Potable water is very expensive, so you want to use it for potable purposes,” he said.
I would have to agree that recycling water is an important thing, and that it is needed, and it could be used if treated correctly, and the closer it gets to humans the higher in quality it has to get, other than that it’s a good idea especial with the long droughts we have, we need to be doing all we can, and what this does is it gives the allows to give fresh, clean to humans than using it on plants and other things smaller in importance. It is like fighting a war, not only the soldiers (researchers, and engineers) but the citizens as well (we the people), it the war (water crisis) is to be won, both need to contribute. the idea it’s self is like inventing a better light bulb, it’s good and helpful to the environment, but not everyone will buy it. It’s good, but a change and not everyone likes change, even if can save some lives.
Recycling water is good. Especially since droughts can come and go. Best to be prepared, or we’ll end up like Georgia is not, rationing water and all, and rations=not fun.
We have the technology to do it, so why not? As for the chemical and pesticide argument, well, there’s all that stuff in the food you get from the supermarket. Is there a way to filter them out of the water? Can domestic water filters do if for you if you’re worried? I have no idea, but that’s what the people in that particular area need to ask.
As for recycling water, did you know that your toilet bowl has less bacteria on it on average then your kitchen sink? I don’t think that this is going to be a problem, probably because I was under the assumption we already do this.
I think it is a good idea to recycle the water so the streams and rivers don’t get more polluted. but they are right when they say that even though the water is cleaned small particles can still get through. So I think we should still recycle water, but the water shouldn’t be used for drinking water.
This idea to recycling water for the more needed purposes is actually a great idea. Especially now that it has been said in the local news that if the amount of water in the bill exceeds the amount of water necessary for the number of household members and it is brought to the attention of the authorities, you can receive a ticket for “wasting” water. Personally, its sad that the government has been pushed to giving tickets for us wasting water instead of actually appreciating the water that we have. As humans, we unfortunately have the bad tendency to become greedy and take more that we actually need, which is very wrong. The Article stated, “About 25 MILLION Californian’s depend on the Delta for their water supply. That a ridiculous amount! Many people say, “There’s a water crisis occurring” but no one seems to try to make a difference. What will happen when The Delta that everyone seems to depend on dries out? Then everyone will want to do something but nothing will be possible. The truth is we, as Americans have been abusing what mother nature has given us for many years and we are starting to see the side effects like green house gases and global warming. Recycling water will help us in the future but it needs to start now before it’s too late. The article also states, “recycled water comes close to meeting drinking water standards.” I bet if recycled water were to be sold as regular water, many wouldn’t notice the difference. Unfortunately recycled water has not met the drinking-water standards but that will change. One problem that we will face is that people will be grossed out by the fact that the drinking water is coming from sewers and not the snowy mountains that they’re used to. What should be done is trick the U.S. into drinking recycled water. For example tell them its pure water. Later on they will be informed that they have been drinking recycled water all along. Although that would be humorous, it will not happen. What the U.S. should do is come out with recycled drinking water, after it meets the drinking-water requirements of course. Let people try it, wait for how the people accept it and eventually make profits off of it. Although agencies may think that this can’t happen, the conservation groups that were talked about can put this idea into action. The water should be recycled to its cleanest, and purest quality and sold for less than pure water to attract attention from the public. When we become immune to knowing that we’re drinking recycled water we will feel good because we will be helping Mother Nature and lowering the risk of the water crisis.
Recycling water sounds like a great idea. I have read articles talking about us using up all of the fresh water and running out. By doing this, we can help prevent the depletion of fresh water. Some of this water could be saved and used during droughts or in case of a disaster. If any of the water being recycled becomes drinking water, then they really need to make sure that the filters and treatments are completely purifying the water. During the summer I had an internship at laboratory, and they would have me purify contaminated liquids. I was surprised to see how many times I had to run the liquids through the filters. Each time I had to treat the liquid differently to insure that all the particles in the liquid were gone. I really hope that if the water is recycled into drinking water, that they pay very close attention to what is being filtered and to make sure that it is completely purified. Over all I think that recycling water is a great idea. If we save up water, it may come in handy during a disaster or serious drought.
Honestly, the idea of drinking water that has been flushed is quite frankly gross. But recycling water is a great idea! I think as long the water is treated carefully, it’s a safe and effective idea. Not only should we focus on recycling water, I think it’s very crucial to also focus on the treatment of the water. It should be made sure that there is nothing in the water that is contaminating. I have heard recently in the news that California is currently trying to save water, at all expenses. For example, there are these people called the water police or something to that nature, and they will actually cite you if they catch you watering areas in your lawn that don’t really need to be watered, or using excessive water when your washing your car, and even for having water touch the sidewalks when your sprinklers are on. I think these water police are stupid first of all. And second, if we recycle water, maybe we don’t have to go through such desperate measures.
I’m not sure if taking such drastic measures such as recycling sewage and waste water back into water bottles or drinkable tap water out of fear of water shortage is such a safe idea. It’s like the article says “Recycled water can contain not only salt, but metals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals.” I believe that the solution to water shortages should be for people to just be mindful of the amount of water that they use. Sure the water that comes pretty close to meeting drinking-water standards will still be treated and pumped into public drinking water fountains and peoples homes, but a mentality like this would just make the american public takes the use of tap water for granted. to prevent any water shortages the authorities should just make the american public aware of minding their use of water.
this is disgusting. seriously, if the shortage of water is so bad that drinking water has to be recycled from flushed, shit filled water, then i think conserving water is a very big issue. even if the water is “very clean”, how exactly did they clean this water? was all the urine and fecal mater removed, and if it was, how many chemicals were used? are these chemicals going to poison our children? not only that, but if not all the waste was removed, how much is going to be allowed to linger in there? honestly, i think that recycling water would be the very last resort.
With global warming and droughts our water supply has been severely decresing. Conserving water is a big issue. No matter how many times you tell a person to conserve water, they won’t do it. People are lazy and stubborn, if you tell them to conserve water and it means giving up their half an hour long shower, they won’t do it.
All water has been used before anyways. Water treatment facilities are obviously very competent in cleaning water and making sure it is safe to drink. Why not recycle it? This seems like a great way to keep a good supply of water. I, personally would rather drink water that has been recycled and as clean as original water, then run out of water completely.
Recycling water is a great Idea!California’s water crisis is something that we hear about very often, but people still do not seem very interested on all the issues and concerns. There are many understandings that attract people into thinking that recycled water from the tap is extremely bad, but it is purified in a very elaborate process. An example of a real solution should be the government limiting the amount of water that people consume in their households. The water shortage in California is seemingly a very controversial aspect of not being able to maintain the right proportions to survive in the ecosystem. Anything that can help the enviornment in our time is considered to be very helpful. I still remain quite neutral on this topic because the limitation of water for consumers still depends on various factors.
i have heard that they want to take toilet water and make it into tap water, but it just still seems so awkward. though i have also heard that toilet water is supposed to actually be very clean, but if it’s already flushed then it gets kinda…dirty.
but i guess that it’s either gotten to the point that we have to do this, or we’re just making sure a water shortage won’t get worse.
sure it seems a little unhealthy, gross, disgusting, and nasty now, but i’m sure that after it is “cleaned” than it is fine.
it’s only tap water anyway. our tap water is already kinda bad to begin with.
all should be fine in the end.
Recycling water is a good thing since currently they’re is a dwindling water supply. I however don’t like the idea of treated sewage water being in used as tap water because the idea of it seems nasty. I think that it should only be used on for irrigation purposes. I dont even want to think about the stuff that could of been in that water before they recycled it.
When first opening this blog, I had first read recycling sewage water. My first emotion was “ewww, that is quite disgusting!” I mean, honestly, that sounds unsanitary.
But when I kept reading on, I came to realize that this could be a great idea. Better yet, it is a great idea. Because research has proven that we are using way to much clean water, and we will eventually use it all. I think recycling sewage water and perfuming it, will better us a people, not only that but an economy.
I still think its award to do, but this is one idea I wouldn’t mind seeing before putting a hold on it. I say by all means, “do what you need to do.”
Californians have known for a long time that a water shortage is in our near future. In Southern California, we are already getting practically all of our water from up north. Recycling water is the only way we are going to be able to continue our current American habits without having to sacrifice luxuries such as daily showers or indoor plumbing. We’ve grown so accustomed to these luxuries- things that many other countries could only dream about- that we could never conceive of giving them up. Thus, recycling water is necessary. People get this idea that we’re going to be drinking water filled with urine or contaminated with bacteria. But if we have the technology to take water from a stream and purify it despite all the algae and animal life LIVING, defecating, urinating and reproducing in it, then we’ll be okay with filtering out any human waste that enters our water storage. Frankly, I am excited. Water, unlike what many people think, isn’t exactly a renewable source. It goes through a precipitation cycle, it does not suddenly appear and disappear. We need water now more than ever. Our economy and population is booming. Water is needed to sustain that or else there will be serious consequences.
The lack of water could be a major issue for years to come. And I’m sure that people are already coming up with ideas to help solve the problem. I believe that recycling water is a great idea. But the idea that sewage water will be recycled and will possibly be used as drinking water doesn’t sound very appealing. I’m pretty sure people wouldn’t really be able to tell the difference between recycled water and bottled drinking water. But it would still be on people’s minds. Think about it. A boy may be out in a park playing basketball. He may get thirsty and want a drink from the drinking fountain. But then he realizes that the water he’s drinking might have once been sewage water. It just doesn’t really sound like the idea will be well accepted by the public. I would personally accept the idea with open arms. I’m all for anything that will help improve the world. If they could find a way to fix the problem with different pesticides and metals in the water. I think that it would be a great help. People are using up water like it’s running out of style. We have to learn to start conserving the water or at least make sure that there’s enough for everyone.
i guess everyone knew that water shortage was coming soon. i think it is a great idea that we start recycling the water. the price of the water is also going to go up like everything else. how are we all going to all make a ln with a the water being like this. i also dont think that it would b a good idea to put to take toilet water and make it into tap water. some of the water might not even get cleaned before they send it down to us. but we have to at least make sacrafices for everything. it wouldnt hurt us if we could only try it.
I very much agree with the fact that we definitely need to be more careful about the amounts of water we use daily. This is why I strongly believe that we SHOULD recycle old water so we can quadruple our water supply by the year 2030. I mean we need water to live so let’s start finding alternatives nowso we can have plenty of water for years to come. But, even though I am all for recycling the water, I do not we think we should use it to drink because like the article states, some particles can still get through and I defintiely DO NOT want to drink dirty water! So basically, I beleive we should recycle our water but we should use it for other pusposes such as watering plants rather than drinking it.
water shortage is a definite problem in southern California and for years we have had to depend on the water supply of the rest of the state. the reason there is a water shortage in southern California is mainly because it is a big desert and there are the reoccurring of droughts. recycling water is a good idea and we can reuse our water faster than the water cycle can clean it giving us an advantage. although reusing the water sounds like a good idea, many people will not drink it knowing the it is recycled. i believe that we should recycle our water but only use the recycled water for certain things that are more tolerable o the residents of California. we should only use the pure un-recycled water for drinking and the recycled water for the home ( showering, tap water, ect..).
Water really is very important to everybody. However, sometimes it seems that people take advantage of the amount of water we have. Water is something that needs to be taken care of because everybody needs water, and if one day we ran out of water many people would dehydrate all over the world or be in a very big need of water. Nevertheless, since a certain pecentage of our body runs on water that is one reason why we should take care of the water even more because knowing that we really need it and if we dont have it their is a probability of death for many people.`I totally agree of recycling the water klike from the sewage or things like that because that way we would have even more water than before and now a lot of water could really go all over the world not only the dirty water but also the nice clean purified water that people can drink. In that case we would never run oput of water. However, some of that water sounds dangerous like for example the water that contains metal. Metal is something that contains a lot of chemicals. I would say that means that the water may contain certain chemicals in it eventhough its been through the purification, i would think that it could still contain some type of chemical. HEnce, i would rather stick with the clean recycleable water that way im sure that the water is clean and doesnt contain anything that would make me sick.
I think that recycling and re-using water is a great idea especially if done correctly. The key is whether it is done correctly. To me it seems like a cop out for a water company to worry about any guidlines their recycled water must meet to be put back into circulation because it is their job to recycle the water and if they cant meet a few simple guidelines, then it seems to me that they aren’t doing their job very well. These complaints and worries may simply come from the fact that water companies are lazy and don’t want to waste to much time recycling water, or it could be due to the fact that in order to accomplish extremely clean recycled water it is very costly. I foresee more and more lobbying for increased state taxes to help pay for the more costly and effective water recycling methods if in fact there are more strict regulations put on the quality of recycled water. It is all for a great cause though because California is in somewhat of a water crisis, and the only way to fix it is by being proactive and forcing the issue; this may be the most effective way to attack the water crisis in California(since we haven’t exactly had a ton of rain, other than rich people trying to make it rain). It all will work out, and I think regulations are very important to make sure that we receive the best, of course if we want the best we have to pay the best money so an increase in taxes is almost inevitable to create “high quality H2O” word to Adam Sandler in the Waterboy.
i could say as a fact that water is one of the most important sources of the day. People knew that the water shortage was coming. And they should also know that the only way for all Californians to get water is to recycle the water that has already been used. There’s a lot of people that wont agree with this fact and would get more gross out than comprehensive about it. I guess that the first thing people think about is that they would have to take showers and probably even drink water that is unsanitary, but they are not thinking of what people are gonna do to do the best to have the cleanest water they could get out of the recycled water before they send it out. I mean we have used most of our clean water in California and we’re now getting our water from the north of the state. There’s a lot of peole that are complaining about California going througha water crisis but these people dont seem to eb doing anything about it. everyone needs to get together and collaborate to make a difference about this situation that every one has caused. I truly believe that we should start the recycling water idea as soon as possible and not wait until is too late. but i do believe that the water that may be reclycle should be the purest and the cleanest it could be, and it should also be less expensive than the actual clean water. because if we get water that its still unsanitary it may come out to be more expensive to the consumer, because it may cause health problems and we might have to pay the bills of teh hospital and teh doctors.I agree with having the water recycled as longa s its clean and sanitary to everyone.
This is a great idea. This idea will not only provide more water for the san juaquin valley, but will also help the enviorment from being polluted. I do agree that this idea will have to go through some pretty tough rules to get put into action because it is waste water the’re dealing with. Some people don’t agree with this because it may spill into rivers and streams if it’s not done properly. Of course there might be all sorts of problems that could occur, but with doing anything there is always a risk. when you take risks you may have a great solution on your hands to help the rest of california with drought. This idea can also spread to other states as well. Georgia, just a few months ago, was in a state of emergency because of the drought they were having. If they had this technology now they would have solved their problem almost immediately. This idea is so good it may even spread throughout the entire world just to make pollutioin less in the water.
I have mixed feelings about recycling water, sure it may be a great idea to conserve water and lower the drought problems, but are you really comfortable drinking water that was once in a toilet? I wouldn’t feel comfortable at all drinking anything like that, and on top of that I don’t even know how they clean the water like they say they do. It is just like when you were younger and your parents told you never to put something in your mouth (like dirty food or toys) and you don’t know where it has been. The article stated something very important about the recycled water, that even though it may be cleaned there could be a possibility that chemicals from the cleaner could contaminate the water, and could be harmful to the water drinker. Just imagine that we didn’t know that there were unknown chemicals in our recycled drinking water, what if they never intended to tell us? What would happen to our world?
In my opinion recycling things like plastic, and paper, and aluminum cans are great ideas, but water can be just a little if-y, especially if you do not know you could be drinking water with chemicals.
I think this is a brilliant idea! Hopefully it can be accomplished.
Getting the water clean is the first and most important thing to worry about right now. But if that can be solved and recycling our water becomes doable then one of our countries biggest fears will be put to rest.
“It’s very clean water. It comes pretty close to meeting drinking-water standards,” said Cary Keaton, the city’s director of public works.
That is just disgusting. “It comes close”?? So its NOT, really drinking water? We could be drinking some else’s bodily fluids? Um, Ewwww. I dont think you should recycle anything that has already passed through someone else’s body, i dont care how clean you say it is. I know at one point or another, we could be possibly doing that anyway, cuz we all share the same water source anyway, but we shouldnt purposly go into dirty nasty water and recycle it for other people to drink. Thats like going into a second hand store and buying some underwear. Sure it looks clean, but you dont know the owner of those chonies before you. You dont know if they had a disease or just a filthy crotch. That’s just something you dont do. And drinking water that had once been waste, is one of those things.
:/
[Some water agencies say the proposed rules are too tough and will limit recycling opportunities, causing more wastewater to be discharged to rivers and streams.]
Are people not willing to put a little more effort into making water safe for us? The rules are there for us to remain healthy and safe.
[“Using recycled water to increase supply is only effective when the water quality of existing resources is protected,” alliance director Linda Sheehan said.]
Exactly. What would be the point to recycle water that can still do some harm. It would be wasting everyones time and effort.
Recycled water is a very good idea. But when used in the right manner. Ya and even though it may be water the people have used to take a crap in, it is still better than having no water in case of a drought or a shortage of water. Deal with it. I wont so any of you guys complaining about the crap water when one day there will be a shortage of water and your going to be drinking crap water along with the rest of us
Chimical engineers have come along way when it comes to waste waters. The water that has been used for the toilets and phecial matter can once again be used for drinking water. Though as sick as it might seem it is very true. It is now possible to take some dirty and damaged water and clean it up to what it used to be. Recycling water is a very good idea. It could help supply more water to other regions that are in desperate need of the water. Though most of the population gets there water from wells, by tapping the water table, there are still some regions that do not have the bennifits of the wells and other rivers.
i agree with there being recycled water aslong as it can be treated correctly. my only concern is that some things do and can get through the fltering proccess and this cold creat a problem with health. the only thing i wouldnt be ok with concerning the recycled water, is if it tries to get filtered for consumption. maybe thats what is already being done, i dont know, but its one thing that should be done. if there are things like pesticides and some metals that can go through the screening procees of the water, there should be some major caution already. but it is better than having no water at all. so, go recycled water!
I think recycling water is a good idea, and using it to water things. If it is to be turned into drinking water, then we need to make sure we have the technology and science to make it pure for human beings to be able to consume it. I mean animals live out in nature and drink the water, and also defacate in it, like Gabi said, and if we can clean that out, then I’m sure they have or can come up with a way to purify water we used. It does seem a bit awkward though if we used toilet water that we have used and recycle it, just hopefully they find ways to make sure they clean out the metal and pesticides or whatever they don’t want in the water.
I think it is a good idea to recycle used water!!! i mean yeah it has its downfalls to it but what doesn’t nowadays. Hey as long as they are making sure that it is going to be benefitting more rather than making things worse i dont see nothing wrong with it. We do need to start caring more about our resources and trying to make the best use of them because as wasteful as we have been as only hurt our environment and only causing other problems!!! I mean right now we are already basically in winter and we havent even had rain!!! Thats horrible!!! so yea we need to start conserving adn recycling on a lot of things to try make our environment at least a tad bit better than what it is right now!!!
The idea of recycling water has its good sides and its bad sides. We are going through a water shortage and need some way to prevent it from getting worse. I think recycling water can help us alot but thinking more about the recycling water is kind of gross.”It comes pretty close to meeting drinking-water standards.” which means to me that its still dirty and I can not imagine using dirty water.
I like the idea of recycling water because that does benefit the enviornment and it’s effective.
However, becuase these pestisides and water can get through the water-filter process, I’d still be a little skeptical of wanting to drink it. UNTIL THEN, I WOULDNT WANT TO DRINK IT. But if it can be safely used for other things, then awesome! We should be doing more of that and not limiting ourselves to helping other things out. Use it to generate electricty or something.
I agree that we use to much water. I also agree that we need to find alternative ways of using less water, and if that means we have to use recycled water than by all means we should do that. Multipying our water supply by four would definitely help out. The only problem I can see with this is, some people might not want their toilet water to be recycled and used for something else. I know it’s filtered many times and it’s still good, but something about using the water you use the restroom in is kind of icky. But, its good that we are finding ways to use less water and recycle what we are using. It’s nice to see that government is doing somehting about the water supply issue. If only this would reach to other places with drought, like countries in Africa, etc. But as time goes on i’m sure we will find a way to help them too.
I think that I’m in the middle of this i mean i can agree because we do have a shortage of water and water is important and we need the water and we do recycle everything else so why not water? and it would be better so many people wont worry about the shortage of water, i mean we have to think about the future what if it doesn’t rain? and if it does it doesn’t rain that much we always have something to fall back to but i would also have to disagree with it because in the article it also says that it MIGHT meet the standards….i don’t know about you but that pretty gross if it doesn’t we would be drink stuff we shouldn’t be drinking. so maybe we can use this plan as something to fall back on only! like if we REALLY REALLY need it because I’m not willing to always be drink something that “might” meet the standards.
I think the idea of recycling water is an interesting one, but it not might be the safest idea. I think if people were just more cautious as to how they are using water and wasting it then we could probably prevent water shortages. I do however; believe recycling water and using it as tap water will help in the long run. As long as the water purifying treatment is treated carefully then it should be fine. If the water is being recycled as drinking water then I think it would be essential for them to clean it so that it is completely purified, since it could contain metals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. This idea might help out the water shortages we’re having and in case of emergencies. So long as this treated wastewater doesn’t cause more harm than good, I think it will be a great solution.
i think that by receyling water it will be very helpful for us. People are becoming very worried about us running out of water, why not recycle it.
I mean we already do it with plastic, paper, etc. Our water is rapidly evaporationg because of global warming. Our sea level has dropped in the few past decades drastically so, this will help us. The conservation of our water is very important sense we need it so much. I honestly think this will become a great use for us sense we use it so much. My only concern would be if its efferective or not?
Water quality has always been an issue in California. Many bills have been passed and amended o fit the needs of California’s water issues. Using waste water to water the grass in public places is great, but californians don’t see what the environmental effects are.
Continued————–
Re-using waste water is great. It saves money in the long run and makes public parks look great. The one thing that most people don’t consider is all the chemicals it takes to clean that water, and how much of those chemicals stay in the water exposed to the world.
This idea of using waste water will only get you oh so far. After water is used for toilets, there is no way into turning the water back to compleatly normal.
We should invest in less water restoration projects and consider water storage. California has water now, but in 20 to 30 years we will be on the brink of dire struggle for water. A good storage system is more efficant then cleaning old used water.
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!! this is the grosses thing i have ever heard of well besides this one thing called 2 girls one cup, but this well this is second grosses. Driniking water that has gotten flushed through the toilet GROSS! evern though eevryone says “its good to recycle” this is going to far, maybe when we are out of water then yea….thats going to ber a wile though, but to tell you the truth no one would drink water form a fossit anymore. But the good thing bout this is that water companies will be making more money becuase everyone will be buying water bottles. As an example i neevr drink tap water i think it is dissgusting already, but this i think i wouldnt even wash my dishes with it, really really really GROSS! other ways though to recycle water is well theres none, the ocean isnt one either if anyone is thinmking that, and pluss all that bacteria and germs nah no one and i wouldnt be drinking no more water from the fossit, and if they move this idea to bottled water. Well, everyone going to be all fat becuase of drinking soda or other things not made up of water!
This proposal definetly has its pros aand cons.
It is although a good idea. Of course it sounds just gross,but imagine the possibilities…
Water will no longer be one of the leading causes of the deteriation of the world.Many will have what they might have never had before,and also not worrying on how musch water you waste anymore each year. This proposal is also a good idea because it means the ocean will no longer be drained do to water shortage.
With every good idea you have your what if’s. Eventhough this might sound like a good idea,it has its faults.Sure officials might claim the water is clean and safe.”Almost as clean as drinknig water”,one official states.The concern is that “almost” in the begining.If you are not 100% sure that this recycled water is safe to drink maybe they should pospone the proposal till they are.
Well, i think the idea of recycling the water is fantastic…but there are way too many down sides to it…
“Recycled water can contain not only salt, but metals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. These can pass through the water-treatment process”
Even if it’s treated, it’s still contaminated, I’d rather drink piss…not really, but i may as well. it’s not healthy, yeah yeah we’re saving the water so we don’t all die…but let’s all just drink metal! cause that won’t kill us…right?
maybe I’m not quite understanding this whole thing, or i just like to argue with things, either way i think it’s a pointless idea…save the water for the non existing future? I’m not seeing it!
yeah things will look prettier and we’ll have ENOUGH water…but all the chemicals it takes to clean the crap out of it, make it even worse to drink, or even CLEAN dishes with…
i’ve said this before in numerous blogs…Hey, we’re all gonna die anyway…we’re all going to be obese…we’re all going to be attached to computers as a new source of life support, so really what we do, doesn’t matter…in my opinion….=]
and Hector, 2 girls in one cup seriously needs to leave the spirit of i-poly..ahahha it’s so disgusting!
“It’s very clean water. It comes pretty close to meeting drinking-water standards.”
Now there was not too much information on where this water is being used. The beginning of the article seems to say that it is for non potable uses. If this water is used to irrigation and things similar then recycling it is a great idea. I do not think it is being used for drinking water, as it shouldn’t be.
I do not know how many people know but a lot of the water Cal-Poly uses to irrigate its plants and farms is recycled. We agree with this by association already. Interesting.
What we need to be doing living in California is adapting to its environment. There are very few places that a lawn would be native to. Some of the best plants to use here are cactus and low water using ground cover.
Recycling is a step in right direction, unfortunately we still need to use less water period.
It would be pretty sick to know that we might be drinking sewage water.drinking sewage water sounds soooo gross! But it can be very helpful to people who do not have good drinking water at all. So in a way it sounds like a good idea but then agian sounds very nasty. To people who dont even have clear drinking water would be very grateful i think. Recycling the water can be good but then agian if its not treated right or filterd properly it can cause problems. But other than sounds like a good idea.
I think the this idea is to advanced for the society of today. They dont see the importnance of recyclng water right now, we have enough water for all of us. People are not set into that mind set yet. To save water sounds like a silly idea for some.
I personally think that this would be a great idea of course if done properly and safely. I dont see why not we have to stick together and if we have to drink reacycled water so be it. This water is well processed and ran through numerous amounts of test.
I think through out time we would realize the importance of recycling water. People like Hilary will then realize on how delicious this water can taste when your at a shortage.
I think this is a good idea. However, it has to be treated in the right manner, if not many people might become ill. We have the technology to do so it is just a matter of putting it in place. Also some people might not like the idea of drinking recycled water, Like hector or andrea. This would be a decent debate topic, but we dont not have to space to do so here. This topic has its pros as well as its cons, and from reading some of the comments posted above it seems as if most people agree that this is a good idea, but the water needs to be treated currectly.
Using recycled water is very important today and will soon become key in rationing out our water supply when it becomes short. I think using recycled water in waterfalls, irrigation, and other non-drinking forms is great and perfect use for it. Only gray water should be used to wash cars, water lawns, and other such things that we normally use water for. However I don’t know if consumers would really go for drinking it. I do understand how clean it is but what was that water once used for? Maybe I would go for using it in showers and washing my hands but drinking? It reminds me of Mexico. When I go i never drink the water or by popsicles that were made with the water. Not that recycled water is anywhere close to that poor condition but still reminds me of it. I think me and many others have preconcieved ideas and mental pictures about things like drinking recycled water that would be hard to get ride of. The public would have to be greatly informed about every aspect of recycled water. It reminds me of when the San Gabriel Valley was putting limits on water and the Beer company, Miller I think was going to have to use recycled water. Everyone tought it was toilet water, which it may could of been, I don’t know how they polled or got the consumer feedback but many alcoholics said they would not drink it anymroe if they swiched to recycled water. Point of story,… they didnt end up using recycled water. I don’t think the public would take kindly to drinking it. As it is our generation are germ freaks with all the anti-bacterial products we have today and travel size germ killing liquid.
Recycled water is great and needs to be used right away. It should however be used in certain areas. (I don’t think it should ever be bottled.) Maybe if pure enough and consumers are convinced its ok to drink than we can use it in our homes, running through our pipes to wash dished and take showers with.
The fact that some small towns have actually started recycling their own sewage water to drinking water is quite facinating. Only cause many other larger cities haven’t really mad an effort to make bigger steps in conserving water. If the water could eventually be purified and re-used there California wouldn’t be in the water shortage it’s in. This small town that has taken action to a better earth, may incourage many other small towns, and other larger cities to follow. Experts should attempt to investigate the process and determine whether the process could be improved to were it’s at drinking quality. With the new process it would be possible for a whole new movement of recycling used products and maybe just solving or improving the current conditions we’re in now.
Recycling water is a good thing, but to turn that sewage water into drinking water may actually be very dangerous.
as stated: “Recycled water can contain not only salt, but metals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. These can pass through the water-treatment process, says the California Coastkeeper Alliance, a network of groups including San Francisco-based Baykeeper.”
it may cause more damage than it can actually help us. One good thing about it though, is that we need to conserve water, and doing that will help us to use less energy, which also reduces the chance of Global warming.
but the thought of “maybe” harming people by having them drink salt, metals, pesticides and Pharmaceuticals, doesn’t sound like a very good idea.