It's a very emotional subject -- which is exactly the problem. From a scientific standpoint, there's no doubt that any recycled wastewater will go above and beyond the prevailing standards of purity. The technology exists to separate water from sewage, to purify it in a number of biological and chemical ways, and to recycle it into the system with no hint of its brief former life as waste conveyance.
The problem is, who wants to listen to science when disgust is involved? A number of citizens and politicians are up in arms, screaming about how they'll never drink water that was once in their toilet -- and proving their utter ignorance about how the water cycle really works. I'm hoping PoopReport will cover this issue in more depth in the future. In the meantime, I want to reprint an editorial written by the Sacramento Bee [2]. It does a great job of explaining the origins of the water you drink, and that just because water was once in a toilet doesn't ruin it until the end of time—and that the water from the standard municipal system is not as innocent as the raving masses may believe.
Editorial: Toilet water politics [3] "Your golden retriever may drink water out of the toilet with no ill effects. But that doesn't mean humans should do the same."
So says the San Diego Union-Tribune, which recently joined the chorus of opponents, including San Diego's mayor, of a project that would blend supertreated sewage water in a local drinking water reservoir. The idea is known as toilet-to-tap. The idea appears to offend the sensibilities, at least in San Diego. It's an understandable first-flush reaction.
Alas, it seems time to let San Diegans and any other squirming citizens in on a little secret about water supplies: Toilet-to-tap is as old as civilization in California. And if San Diego shuns blended toilet water, it's about to become very thirsty.
With little groundwater underneath it, San Diego has two primary supplies. One is the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The other is the Colorado River. The proposed project, to reuse water rather than drain it into the ocean, is one viable way to create a reliable local supply for San Diego. But it does involve the blending of treated water with untreated water in a reservoir. Technically, this means drinking treated toilet water. Is this really new for San Diego or most cities? Of course not.
Consider the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, whose waters San Diego draws from the Delta. More than 300 farmers and cities are permitted to discharge their treated and untreated runoff into these rivers. Counties empty treated sewage water into rivers every day. Almost 10 percent of the average flow of these rivers is discharge, according to San Diego's water department.
Yuck? Consider the Colorado River. Las Vegas dumps 58 billion gallons of treated sewage water into nearby Lake Mead, from whence it flows into the Colorado. More than 17 percent of this river's flow is discharge. Guess who drinks some of this, San Diego? It's not just the golden retriever.
California has no choice but to stretch its available water supplies. Reclamation and reuse projects can be some of the most affordable and reliable options. San Diego's water department has been trying to educate citizens about water recycling for years. A committee of the City Council has endorsed this recycling project, setting up yet another showdown before the full council this fall.
Short of drinking snowflakes as they fall, most of us are and will be drinking a blend that includes previously treated (as in flushed) water.
Squirm away. It's just a fact.
Recycling can't conquer 'yuck' factor