From Toilet to Tap

I was watching the news this morning like every other morning and a story caught my attention.  This story involved a drought stricken Wichita Falls Texas.  A recent and prolonged drought for more than 3 years has caused water levels of Wichita Falls to fall below normal levels.

Figure 1- Lake Arrowhead, or what is left of it (Wichita, TX Gov, 2013).

The city is scheduled to run out of water in two years if something does not happen.  The city has reached out to scientists and researchers to help find a solution!  This solution is to reuse waste water from: sinks, washing machines, dishwashers, showers, and yes, toilets.  However, toilet water will only make up a fraction of the waste water that is planed to be recycled (Wichita Gov).  This process is known as direct potable reuse, where a cleansing and filtration process takes place.  This process includes advanced filtering, chlorination, and reverse osmosis.  Sure this idea seems extreme and many have turned their nose up at the idea. But, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Some citizens have already vowed to purchase only bottled water once this recycled water is put in motion.  If you read the last blog we already touched on this subject, bottled water is not any healthier for you or the environment!  Again I say, we have become so accustomed to a sterile environment we can't even fathom the idea of using and drinking recycled clean water.  We would rather pay a fortune to pollute the environment with plastic bottles!?  I commend the government of Wichita Falls for taking drastic steps to try to recycle and reuse waste water.  Could this be a new process more cities around the country will implement?  Only time will tell.  I am one who welcomes the idea of reuse.  Water is a limited source and we must learn to work with nature and not against it if we want a sustainable environment.

Check out the link below for a CNN video explaining it more

Waste water to Tap

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