gunplumber700 t1_iwhasa8 wrote
Reply to comment by FreekFrealy in Recycled wastewater is not only as safe to drink as conventional potable water, it may even be less toxic than many sources of water we already drink daily by giuliomagnifico
Not nearly to the degree you’re making it out to be. It’s not direct recycled water. Its water that’s generally diluted in natural freshwater by at least an order of magnitude or more.
Also, most municipalities get their water from reservoirs that receive no wastewater treatment plant effluent.
FreekFrealy t1_iwhcaui wrote
It definitely varies region to region, in water rich regions it's easier to find such sources. Of course the point of this article is that the quality of the water doesn't even have to suffer if you are sourcing from wastewater
But in water poor regions where most major cities exist along major rivers that often struggle to make it to the ocean it really isn't an over statement, and these are the regions that need closed loop wastewater recycling the most
gunplumber700 t1_iwj152i wrote
There’s only a handful of areas where it’s a major problem (cough cough LA).
Focusing on water loss and reducing that would save quite a bit of water, but for whatever reason everyone is fine with throwing away treated potable water but is gung ho for drinking wastewater.
In my 5 minutes google search LA uses 10,999 MILLION gallons a month and has 7% water loss. I know it’ll never be 0, but that 770 MILLION gallons a month isn’t negligible.
outofideastx t1_iwjco13 wrote
UCLA said that the LA area reports of 3-7% water loss are because main breaks are being counted as "Unbilled, Unmetered consumption" instead of loss in some areas, and state of the art utilities still report a 10% water loss. I also found a Reuter's article stating that over 25% of the water mains in LA are teetering on 100 years old. I think it's safe to say that their figures are incomplete at best.
The relatively large Texas city I work for ranges between 10 and 20% depending on the year.
gunplumber700 t1_iwjdpxa wrote
I wanted to use 7% to be conservative. It’s definitely much higher.
Imo distribution systems are one of the most neglected parts of the water utility system.
Why everyone thinks they’ll last forever is beyond me.
outofideastx t1_iwjf36o wrote
It's frustrating to say the least. At the pace we're going, we will have all the cast iron replaced in 50 years. By then, the ductile will be 90-110 years old, and the PVC will be 50-90. The math doesn't add up.
enemy_lettuce838 t1_iwjo4bn wrote
The US isn't the only place where water is important.
intensiveduality t1_iwkc13v wrote
Considering literally no one said it is
[deleted] t1_iwkv04s wrote
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gunplumber700 t1_iwjrb8s wrote
No, but seeing as the article was written in California I chose a California city as an example.
greeneggsnyams t1_iwhbogh wrote
Louisville Kentucky, some of the best tap water you'll get in the world, gets its water from THE OHIO RIVER. And we're down river from Cincinnati and Pittsburgh
[deleted] t1_iwmrnmz wrote
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MpVpRb t1_iwii5za wrote
>Also, most municipalities get their water from reservoirs
that are full of living things that poop, die and decay
gunplumber700 t1_iwiw1ek wrote
Not the same as literal concentrated human shitwater. Go take a look at some raw wastewater and some raw reservoir/ well water.
I also left out wells. Reservoirs and wells.
Lake_ t1_iwk5yjh wrote
it’s treated first idiot. in a very effective multistage process. biological material is actually the easiest part to clean. it’s the chemicals from industrial waste that should be more concerning. the water from a wwtp is clear and free of microorganisms and is already treated by law where you have to treat the raw water from reservoirs for it to be drinkable.
intensiveduality t1_iwkcb2b wrote
Is a discussion over water really worth insulting strangers for absolutely no reason? Be better
gunplumber700 t1_iwl4zri wrote
Well moron, there’s a thing called grammar. Feel free to use it.
Go look at colliform samples from the average wwtp.
Wwtp effluent is NOT treated to drinking water standards. Every heard of crypto (not the currency)? Enlighten me on how a wwtp without a tertiary process treats their effluent for that to need drinking water standards?
jffleisc t1_iwj18qj wrote
My town’s water supply comes out of the Hudson river. guess where the wastewater ends up.
gunplumber700 t1_iwj4ztc wrote
So put it into perspective.
How does a wwtp work? It does exactly what occurs naturally in nature, only faster. Wastewater plant effluent continues to break down after leaving the plant. It also gets diluted when entering receiving waters.
Part of a wwtp’s npdes permit is supposed to consider other downstream users.
Edit: would you rather drink just wwtp effluent or 99.9999% fresh water diluted with 0.00001% treated wastewater.
StretchArmstrong74 t1_iwj9xir wrote
Depends on how "fresh" that water is to begin with. I'd damn sure drink our effluent before I'd chug a glass of water out of the Hudson river.
I know for a fact the stream we feed into is cleaner downstream of our dump than it is upstream, which means drinking it after it was diluted would be worse than drinking it straight.
yacht_boy t1_iwjd09d wrote
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. And it appears you have a very little knowledge.
gunplumber700 t1_iwje4wh wrote
Oh yea? Since you’re so smart you have something constructive to add to the discussion right?
Please enlighten us with your wisdom…
yacht_boy t1_iwk6482 wrote
Well, I'm bound by legal provisions that curtail my ability to speak freely on social media. I could lose my job and be subject to fines, etc. So I can't just school you, much as I'd like to.
But I can say that I am a co-author on a shelf full of books and peer-reviewed journal articles about this exact topic. I know the intricate details of water reuse and resource recovery from wastewater very, very well.
Over the last 20 years of work in this field, I've gotten good at determining who knows what they are talking about and who doesn't. And you don't.
Please shut up, you are out of your depth.
intensiveduality t1_iwkc9cz wrote
Your comments have taught me nothing except that you have a bad attitude and zero professionalism.
leonra28 t1_iwk7xao wrote
Are you also trained in gorilla warfare?
yacht_boy t1_iwlyd0v wrote
I prefer to fight bored apes.
[deleted] t1_iwl60n9 wrote
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ScientificSkepticism t1_iwlqdv9 wrote
You have the biggest Navy Seal energy.
yacht_boy t1_iwlx71l wrote
Just hate seeing people trashing a subject I have devoted my entire career to with misinformation and innuendo. Water reuse is safe, effective, and achievable.
ScientificSkepticism t1_iwly3nc wrote
Mate at some point if multiple people are reading your "serious post" and are waiting for the rest of the Navy Seal copypasta, you done went wrong.
yacht_boy t1_iwlzwsr wrote
Meh, what can I say. I am legitimately not allowed to give out any identifying details that would tie me to my employer on any social media channel, because then I would be considered to be representing that employer. I can only represent my employer by going through all the official channels, which involves public affairs people, managerial review, blah blah blah. I have to take an annual training on this exact topic. Nowhere near as exciting as a Navy Seal, but similar levels of bureaucracy.
[deleted] t1_iwm1s0m wrote
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Manofalltrade t1_iwjs409 wrote
Natural freshwater that fish spawn in, animals die and rot in, and everything poops in?
gunplumber700 t1_iwl32m1 wrote
So since you seem to think raw freshwater is so dirty go take some colliform and ecoli samples. Let me know how clean you think wastewater effluent is after that.
Manofalltrade t1_iwlp9x9 wrote
I’ve been around a bit more than you know. Disease and toxins are what they are and after you hit a certain threshold the concentration essentially doesn’t matter anymore. Water molecules are all the same (unless you are getting pedantic about radioisotopes). Once it’s clean, it doesn’t matter where it came from.
gunplumber700 t1_iwlu17e wrote
I don’t care how long you've been around.
If you think ANY amount of pathogens are acceptable in drinking water you have the science understanding of a 5 year old.
If you want to live in theory land water entering a wastewater treatment plant is 99% pure.
Drinking water regulations are different than wastewater for a reason…
Manofalltrade t1_iwmvpzz wrote
Not how long I’ve been around, it’s what I’ve been around. Clearly you are suffering from thinking you know more than you do. I’m haven’t bothered typing out the nuance of all this as it is truly beside the point. I’m also not going to spend anymore time trying to improve your understanding because your attempts at condescension demonstrate that it would be a waste of effort. Good day.
gunplumber700 t1_iwn7oq2 wrote
Yea, because your last comment wasn’t condescending at all…
Your literally being a know it all that has to get the last word in or you wouldn’t have commented that you’re done.
Your comment toward “improving your understanding” proves that you’re just being a know it all without actually providing anything of substance.
If you have something of substance then you would have posted it…
Man of all trades, master of none.
Since you’re in need of knowledge that you clearly don’t have I’d like to direct you toward these few specific courses.
Geology 101, hydrology 101, and limnology 301.
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