Purifying water could become the world’s biggest issue in the coming years.
Editor’s note: check out Water4Patriots for our top choice of personal water filtration.
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We’ve all heard the survival stories in which people stayed alive by drinking their own waste. I often wonder how anyone could possibly be that thirsty, but I guess you do what you have to do to survive.
In some areas where water is the most scarce, this model is used on a much more grandiose scale. Water that is flushed down the toilet is scrubbed very hard with filters, then screened, then treated with chemicals and passed under ultraviolet light. Yep, purifying sewer water in order to increase the water supply is being done or at least being considered in many parts of the world.
Recycling wastewater sounds disgusting, but if the water can be purified by these processes, it may be the answer for areas of the world that are most affected by droughts. One water recycling plant in Orange County, California, can process 70 million gallons of wastewater per day. The plant has received visitors from water managers all around the world.
The plant takes in dark colored water from a sanitation plant, runs it through microfilters to remove solids, then forces it through thin, porous membranes at high pressure before cleaning it with peroxide and ultraviolet light to break down any remaining pharmaceuticals and carcinogens.
As of now, this recycled wastewater does not end up coming out of the taps in American homes, as it does in some places in the world. But it is used for the many other purposes that water is needed, including for irrigation and landscaping, as well as use by industrial plants.
Does the thought of recycling wastewater make you cringe? How would you feel if it ended up eventually coming through your kitchen tap?
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I bought the water straws. Great invention! Is there anything similar available for a whole house, salty well reverse osmosis system to make the water drinkable/potable? The system I have is complicated with 3 pumps and expensive filters that need to be replaced more often than I’d like. Anything new out there?
I bought the wateri live on a reverse osmosis, salty water, well system. Maybe I am wrong, but, it seems after reading all about the water straws, that there should be an easier, less expensive way to make my water drinkable/potable. Anything new for well filtration?
We’ve got some great new products coming up soon. Stay posted for what’s next with Water4Patriots!
Looking forward to a whole house filtration system using Alexapro techology.
We do have the ability to seed the clouds with dry ice to make it rain much more and fill up our reserves. so if it rains for a week thats good. If we have the ability to send people to Marse and to know everything in the universe, Then we have the ability to make it rain much more and fill our dams.
Its funny how we the people are persuaded so easily to make things happen due to our laziness. We talk so much about how we are running out of water. Water is our most precious resorse we have. It give us life. But are we really running out of water? Think of this, If I had a million dollars to throw around, I could start a campain for water rationing. At the same time I could start making plans for a De-salination water plant. Ocean De-salination . I would make plans on how water would be desalinated and bottled. I would make plans on how I would sell that water to the cities. Once I have everything in place. I would get the people involved in the idea of water desalination. Pull some strings to get the idea past the ecologists. Once I have all the company proceedures and jobs for the opperation in hand, I would start be giving people obstract choices. like re using wast water. toilet water, and all other ugly dirty water. At the end I could come up with the right idea of ocean water Desalination for proffit. Yea I would make lots of money for selling to the state my desalinated water supply. $$$$$$$$$$$ :)
Did anyone stop to consider where the astronauts get their drinking water? Yep! You guessed it.
We had 2 astronauts tour our plant and I asked them where their water came from. On the Shuttle water was fresh because it was a by product of the hydrogen fuel cell. Only part of the water on the Space Station is recycled and the rest is created the same way.
These thoughts are looking at waste water/potable water in a rural setting, but are just as important in a metropolitan area.
This subject seems to get very little attention and should be one of the top ten items on our list. Water born diseases have killed more people on the planet than any other source. In most third world countries, potable drinking water is non existent. All drinking water has to be processed because the people have no education on the subject of sanitation. The key to keeping wastewater out of the aquifers is containment, long enough for the digesting bacteria to consume the pathogens. This can be accomplished by containing the waste in series of vessels by something as simple as digging holes on the ground lined with a poly film and preventing solids from flowing into the next lower vessel or lined hole. The anaerobic bacteria will digest the waste over a slow period of time in each of the vessels. the more vessels the cleaner the wastewater at the end. These vessels or holes need to be as far away from your drinking water source as possible. In small remote populated areas, on a larger scale, you can see these from a highway as digesting ponds, all in a row, one lower in elevation than the prior. The last pond will sometimes be larger than the others for a blast of UV from the sun before emptying on the ground or evaporating.
Sanitation should be high on “OUR” list.
Have you never considered that this waste water that is treated is put into the groundwater? That’s where many municipalities get their drinking water. It eventually ends up in our taps.
Frank, I bought your two-pack of Lifestraws a while back, and they are in my BOB, ready and waiting. It’s a sad state of affairs when it has come to this. My next acquisition, if I could ever afford them, is one of those pro-pur one water filtration pithcers. What’s the latest scoop on those?
I’m actually working on developing one that meets my strict standards (i.e. better than anything that’s out there now). It’s still in the works, but I’ll be sure to let ya’ll know when it’s in production.
I have found that “Lifestraw” is a safe and effective way to purify even the worst pond scum into instant potable water. I keep them everywhere. great investment for under $20.00.
I agree! Which is why I sell them, too: http://www.water4patriots.com
I work at a large waste water treatment facility and the water leaving our plant is cleaner than the river we dump into. Re-use water for irrigation is quite common in arid regions and the term “toilet to tap” is coming soon. Don’t be afraid. Like so many said here, water is water and we have the technology to make it clean.
the high pressure filter mentioned in the text above strikes me as a weakness a. it could rupture … b. in a breakdown there would be no power
if one has elec , a dehumid will produce a gallon a day
Dear Frank,
Earl is right. In the short-term naking a “Hobo Filter” will make moderately contaminated water safe. When you DIP (Defend In Place) at home during a long-term disaster you can make a king-sized hobo filter providing for the whole family and/or survival team you’ve put together.
As for recycling sewage for drinking, the thought may be gross, YUK! Howevere, the idea makes sense … as long as the technology is 100% reliable and cannot be compromised.
I would think de-salinization projects are a better idea for major coastal cities, but then again, they dump their sewage into rivers and the oceans.
It is a pretty scary thought, but an ugly reality that finding safe water for our growing population is getting harder and harder for mankind!
Respectfully and Gd Bless,
Orrin
The problem is that pharma drugs are in the waste water. Sorry, I don’t want premarin/estrogen to cause my son to grow breasts! And that is just for starters!
I don’t much care for the thought of this happening, however, if the water is properly treated what’s the problem? Water is water, dirty water can be filtered with a soda bottle charcoal, sand and gravel filter. Filthy water can be decontaminated and filtered naturally with pounds, plants, fish and other organisms and returned to the streams and rivers, it’s called aquaponics.
Ever watch the opening seen of Waterworld with Kevin Costner? Every drop of water on earth that was here a billion years ago is still here. Your body is mostly water and at one time or another may have been a large pool of brontosaurus pee. Brown water is not routed to some vault underground it is recycled naturally through movement through the ground to aquifers and evaporation. No need to chicken little a bypass operation that would do the same mechanically. Water can be tested easily … it is what it is.
This is an absolute fact. Water is vital, even more so than food. And you can take the nastiest of liquids and purify them for drinking with the right gear.