Why are we so disgusted by the simple fact that all the drinking water on earth is recycled wastewater? Unfortunately, the natural recycling process, involving evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, does not deliver enough drinking water to the drier parts of the world. This Sunday, the New York Times Magazine had an article about Orange County's new facility where it's purifying 70 million gallons of recycled water a day. Many people are skeptical and revolted by the idea that their drinking water is simply purified toilet water. But, if we were to analyze the general water infrastructure in the U.S., we'd realize that sewage enters all our waterways. The majority of us drink tap water that is disinfected at drinking-water plants far less sophisticated than the ones built in Orange County.
The water coming out of the Fountain Valley plant in Orange County is cleaner than many bottled waters, such as Poland Spring. However, to appease peoples' concerns about the water being unnatural and dirty, Fountain Valley puts the water back into nature (ponds, streams, lakes, etc.). Ironically, the water's purity dwindles when it goes back into the wild where it's exposed to bacteria, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural and industrial chemicals.
Should Fountain Valley care if people view their water recycling process as natural?
Of the 146,000 complaints on the UK's water supply, almost 120,000 were made about the colour of the liquid gushing from the nation's taps. But figures just released show that just a tiny fraction under 100% (99.96% to be precise) met the minimum safety standards.
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