Why Turning Sewage Into Tap Water Won’t Solve Our Water Woes

Many drought-stricken areas are eyeing “toilet-to-tap” schemes to bolster water supplies, but this risky practice distracts from the real solutions to our water crises.

Maybe you’ve seen a video that goes something like this: someone drinks a glass of clear water and announces that it tastes great. “Get this,” a second person says, “That came from the sewers!” The first person who sipped is shocked. “But it tastes just like tap water!” they might exclaim.

What some may know as an internet novelty is heading for our municipal water systems. Amid historic drought in the American West, several states are looking to turn sewage into drinking water.

But this is not the direction we need to go. “Toilet-to-tap” projects are very risky and expensive. Moreover, they distract from the true solutions to our water crisis: conserving the water we do have and tackling corporate water abusers.

What Exactly Is “Toilet-to-Tap”?

Already, many towns treat and reuse wastewater for purposes like watering lawns. But a small percentage are treating that wastewater and putting it back in the water supply.

This practice, called potable reuse, starts by cleaning wastewater with advanced treatment processes. Indirect potable reuse sends the treated water […]

Full article: www.foodandwaterwatch.org

Recent Posts

Scathing report released detailing Navy’s handling of Red Hill fuel spill

The Inspector General of the Department of Defense released some scathing reports Thursday over the…

6 days ago

Growing Food Instead of Grass Lawns in California Front Yards

Photo: Morgan Boone, a volunteer with Crop Swap LA, harvested lettuce at the La Salle…

2 weeks ago

LA River restoration connects us back to ‘the life force of our city’

Los Angeles residents at a section of the Los Angeles River cleanup in Los Angeles,…

3 weeks ago

LAist: New study raises questions about heavy metals in fire retardants

Over the past decade, about 67 million gallons of fire retardant have been dropped on…

3 weeks ago

Meadow and watershed restoration in the Golden Trout Wilderness

Photo: Golden Trout Wilderness Seeking blue, seeing gold The Kern Plateau features a chain of…

3 weeks ago

First sighting of salmon in 100 years marks key milestone for California dam removal

For the first time in more than a century, a salmon was observed swimming through Klamath…

4 weeks ago