Should we all be drinking our wastewater? Well, it certainly sounds like a terrible idea. That word has “waste” in it, right? That means human waste and goodness knows what else.
But bear with us for a moment. For many Americans either dissatisfied with the quality of their municipal tap water or the quality of their plumbing, it can become an attractive idea. For anybody who is concerned about the health of the environment, it can also come much recommended. As things stand though, this is not commonly practiced. That is simply because it is a new idea, but one which is beginning to look increasingly more feasible.
It is not like tap water is free from contamination anyway. The quality of America’s municipal water supplies varies a lot – and there are millions of American households dealing with water supplies contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides or ridden with the substances imparted by old or substandard plumbing. From lead-poisoned to copper-contaminated water, many of us are already drinking some very suspect water.
Synergy Science, a company specializing in the alternative water products such as hydrogen water and diatomic hydrogen as well as halo EMF protection devices, say that this is probably the main reason for interest in their products. Such products are well known to provide a range of excellent health benefits, but it is also about a chronic dissatisfaction with municipal water supplies as they currently are. And interest in wastewater is driven by the same thing.
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Groundwater Running Out
The environmental case for not depleting ground water is pretty strong and already a genuine issue in many places. For example, in Mexico City, groundwater is being used at such a rate that the city is sinking year on year. Things like subsidence can cause serious problems, the most dramatic of them being big holes simply opening up the ground. That is the catastrophic end of the scale, but it’s well worth keeping in mind that this is, indeed, a major risk.
Beyond that, there is simply the case to be made that using up groundwater will lead to a situation where water reuse infrastructure is no longer sufficient for the water that actually needs to be reused – because there isn’t enough groundwater left. This is a future disaster but a present concern, and it’s another reason to seriously think about reusing water.
The Case for Wastewater
So, can you drink wastewater? Well, as mentioned – not directly. However, there are a range of purification techniques that have been proposed to make wastewater drinkable. The concept of filtering water is, of course, already pretty well known, and the seriously substandard water that comes out of many faucets is already being filtered in many homes across the country.
When you flush away wastewater, you’re already doing essentially the same thing, as much of it will be purified, filtered, and sent back to you. Therefore, by purifying your own wastewater, you’re lessening the strain on this municipal system of water treatment, which in many paces can be pretty inefficient anyway. The levels of contaminants in much drinking water are already testament to that.
The home technology to reuse wastewater is not currently common or even available for many. However, the theory that it could lead to superior drinking water is perfectly sound, and all it would take is a scaled down version of water treatment plants that already do the same thing. This would also cut out the miles of (often substandard) plumbing the water must travel through from the treatment plant to your home.
As you can probably tell by now, this originally unattractive idea is beginning to look very sensible indeed.