Friday, September 16, 2011
Already there
I'm always irritated by media-hyped concerns over horrible things that supposedly "might happen" but in fact are already happening.
Latest one, linked via NRO: Would you drink recycled sewage?
The article discusses why people hate the idea, which is perfectly understandable ... but fails to note that nearly everyone drinks recycled sewage all the time. Rivers and aquifers have always been recycled sewage. Before humans were around, the sewage was from insects, fish and other animals; now much of it is from humans.
Spokane is an especially direct illustration. The eastern suburbs (broadly called the Valley) were outside city utilities until recently. Around 50,000 houses in the Valley still have septic systems. Those septic systems drain into the aquifer, and the city water supply is pulled from the aquifer immediately downstream from the 50k septic tanks. Filthy? Nope. Requires less treatment than most river water, because bacteria in the gravel finish the job that the septic-tank bacteria started.
God bless bacteria. ¶ 7:44 AM
Latest one, linked via NRO: Would you drink recycled sewage?
The article discusses why people hate the idea, which is perfectly understandable ... but fails to note that nearly everyone drinks recycled sewage all the time. Rivers and aquifers have always been recycled sewage. Before humans were around, the sewage was from insects, fish and other animals; now much of it is from humans.
Spokane is an especially direct illustration. The eastern suburbs (broadly called the Valley) were outside city utilities until recently. Around 50,000 houses in the Valley still have septic systems. Those septic systems drain into the aquifer, and the city water supply is pulled from the aquifer immediately downstream from the 50k septic tanks. Filthy? Nope. Requires less treatment than most river water, because bacteria in the gravel finish the job that the septic-tank bacteria started.
God bless bacteria. ¶ 7:44 AM
