Waste Water Converted to Drinking Water in Southern California

[Donn2390]

Originally Posted by Steve Bagu

The san gabriel valley is at the base of the mountains. Having lived in Covina for 20 yrs a while back, the water we had came from Azusa Valley Water which as I recall was all underground well water which was very good. The water is filterd coming down from the mountain during a normal filtering process. My home was just inside the Covina limits but due to a storm drain had to get my water from Azusa, even thoug Covina had their own water system. Anyway does not make sense to recycle toilet water for drinking needs. The mountain supplys the water table real well. Steve

Your right. The moutains supply all of the fresh water you could want without considering recycled water.
The reclaimed toilet water evaporates, then rains on the moutains, and the next day you are drinking reclaimed sewage water.
You can say it any way you want to, every drop of water on the planet is recycled. Do you think God is out there making new water? Nope, it's ALL recycled....

[GregW]

For most of time people have consumed recycled sewage without treatment and many of them died of hideous disease. Fortunately we developed both sewage and drinking water treatments that have, in this country at least, greatly reduced the risk in our water supply. We even have “on the faucet” water treatment systems for the excessively fastidious.

[wwtuman]

What little I know of wastewater treatment, I do remember hearing that the return effluent going back from a wastewater treatment plant to a water body like a river is generally cleaner than the water in the river. Of course, this would be a treatment plant using primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment measures.

When I was growing up on a farm, we had a well and a septic system. I don't remember how deep the well was, but it was dug - not artesian. (Probably dug in early 1900s.) The septic tank and leach field were on the opposite side of the house as the well. In addition, a leach field is not too deep so the water would disperse nicely and be available for plant uptake. You have probally heard the expression that "the grass is always greener over the septic tank"? (Credit to Bombeck)

Later, I learned that county health code requires a minimum separation (horizontal distance) between a well head and a septic system/leachfield. Also, there are reasons wells are tested for such things as fecal coloform.

Having a system to purify wastewater for drinking water sounds like a good, "green," idea.

Originally Posted by bbkaren

I'm obviously ignorant of what sewer treatment plants do. I thought they had always done this with wastewater?

We have always had a septic system so I have no idea about sewer. Although with a septic system isn't it basically doing the same thing? The wastewater eventually filters down into the water table and some is eventually brought back up by the well?

[Chatteress]

Ewwwe gross! I know we need water but this is INSANE! I do not trust the incompetent government to purify human waste! Think about it! How do you purify wastewater and ensure that it is 100% free of harmful bacteria and contagients from diseases such as TB and AIDS???!!! *shudders*

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by msconnie73

Ewwwe gross! I know we need water but this is INSANE! I do not trust the incompetent government to purify human waste! Think about it! How do you purify wastewater and ensure that it is 100% free of harmful bacteria and contagients from diseases such as TB and AIDS???!!! *shudders*

All water is recycled over, and over and over again. The water you drank, bathed in and cooked with today was wastewater at some point. It is just the way it works, and always will be.

As for HIV/AIDS, well HIV is not water-borne virus, so you have nothing to worry about there.