NY Times Article: Toilet to Tap?

Good Afternoon!

The NY Times Magazine this weekend had an article titled "A Tall, Cool Drink of...Sewage?" by Elizabeth Royte.

It is worth a read. It short, to the point and you might be surprised by your reaction. I was. Yes, I know how the city plumbing system works, but it is always good to be reminded and read it in black and white. Elizabeth took a tour of the Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System that superfilters Santa Ana's sewage until it is cleaner than rainwater, then pumps it 13 miles north into a small lake where it is then pumped into the sinks and showers of 2.3 million customers.

Here are some quotes:

"If you like the idea, you call it indirect potable reuse. If the idea revolts you, you call it toilet to tap."

"The stumbling block was psychological, not architectural."

"Last winter, the valve between the sewage plant and the drinking-water plant whooshed open, and a new era in California’s water history began."

"Anything that’s alive in this water can no longer reproduce."

"This final filtering step isn’t necessary, strictly speaking, but our psyches seem to demand it."

“The days are over when we can consider wastewater a liability,” says Peter Gleick, ..... "that means figuring out how best to use it.”

“We have to treat all waste as a resource.”

This prompted a discussion over at SuperForest, yielding a big "Yuck!". But why? Really, nothing we drink is totally pure. It is best not to think about it. This is our current state. But, SuperForester Jackson noted that this is not what the future needs to be. Yes, it would take A LOT to redo how we process our waste and water, but in the bigger scheme of things (say 200 years), it's not too much and definitely worth it. We can start now and we'll have a better system in place by 2208.

So, let's start making the necessary changes now. Rainwater Harvesting? Composting Toilets? Check out Jackson's previous post on Clivus Multrum toilets. The future is now.

Happy Monday!
Niki

Clivus Multrum Ad Idea

(click image to embiggen and sharpen)



Hello All,

Since Julius got the day started off with his "S**t Box" post, I thought it only appropriate to post about something very dear to my heart, and that is clean water.

Every day, Americans flush away approximately three billion gallons (!) of drinkable water, all of it quite contaminated with our "additions." Removing these additions take an extraordinary amount of work and energy, energy that could be put to better uses.

Imagine a toilet that used little to no water and whose only output was compost and you've got a Clivus Multrum.

From wikipedia:

"A composting toilet is any system that converts human waste into an organic compost and usable soil, through the natural breakdown of organic matter into its essential minerals. Micro and macro organisms do this over time, working through various stages of oxidation and sometimes localized pockets of anaerobic breakdown.

The first prototype was first built in 1939 in Tyresö, Sweden by art teacher Rikard Lindström, who owned a property on the Baltic Sea in Stockholm, Sweden. Lindström built a single chamber concrete tank, with sloped bottom and chimney, for disposal of kitchen and toilet waste.

What's not to love, right? It looks and functions just like a normal toilet, and it keeps waste out of our water and gives valuable nutrients back to the land.

Sadly, the Clivus marketing and branding is a little lacking. So I thought I'd ratchet it up a notch with the above ad idea.

The meme is this: All water is drinking water.

To put waste (of any kind) in water is an unsustainable idea. The Clivus makes it easy to live your life normally while greatly reducing your impact and increasing sustainability.

Everyone we know who has a Clivus raves about it.

If you are thinking of building a house, apartment, or any structure that requires a toilet, why not consider a Clivus?

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Love to All,

Jackson