Would you drink recycled water?

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, you'd know that most of Australia is having ongoing problems with lack of rain and as a consequence, the water levels in our dams are dropping pretty damn (haha) low. The various state governments have been looking a different options and I was curious to know how people felt about some of them. There are some cities around the world (including London) who already used retreated waste water in their water system. Bob Carr said in a recent press conference that of the surveys they had done, 90% of people had issues with drinking recycled water. However, scientists have said that the treatment processes they now have available would leave the water cleaner than what's going through the catchment areas initially. Some of the other options mentioned have been desalination and treatment of storm water.

*~*~*~*

So... how would you feel about drinking, or using in your home, any of the following, considering the current water situation, these things will most likely become a reality in the not to distant future:

• Desalinated sea water
• Treated storm water
• Treated waste water

*~*~*~*

I guess as long as they could guarantee there were no health problems associated with any of these & the waste water could be left contaminant free, I'd have no problems with any of them.

I'm concerned about the possible environmental impact of the desalination process as the heavily salted remaining water is discharged back into the ocean, potentially creating issues for sea life.

eeeeauwwwwwwww

I don't drink water.
Unless there's alcohol in it,
which kills all those harmful bacteria & braincells.

But if I did I would.

i'd have no problem with it whatsoever. i think we should be doing it now.

Meh, I'll drink anything in this heat

I'd never want to drink recycled water.

i cant drink recycled waste water.. yuck..
Call me shallow.. but i dont want to drink toilet water.

ignorance is bliss. yeah, sure, just don't tell me about it too much, i am already enough of a clean freak.

^^ same.. but i don't have an issue with it if the technology behind it is sound.. after all.. almost all water is recycled and has a decent chance of having been in some nasty places i the ast billion or so years!!!

Now An Actual Table Made Of Water, That Would Be Novel. You Wouldn't Need Coasters.

I could be wrong
but doesn't
'The Water Table'
do alot of recyclin'
already?

Whose afraid of a cloud?
Unless your cloudwatching and it looks like something scary, I guess.
Then you could be afraid of a cloud.
Or a cloud of poison gas.
Like that one,
you know,
the one that killed all those people
in Africa or some other country that isn't in Australia.
But I was talking about, like,
your ordinary
plain-type
run of the mill
watery cloud.

Come on all.....just think of our poor brothers who attend Hard Kandy in Chenni, India. They have no choice over there....

i dont mind retreted storm water as long as i wont die.
but to anyone who tried drinking desalinated water, would agree that it tastes like shit. but after a while you'll get used to it.

and since when did hard kandy go to "chennai" in India???

I would drink it! Recycled water would actually be cleaner than the water we are drinking now after it has been through the treatment process.

in less than 5 years, i dont think question is going to matter, we're going to have to drink treated water anyway

Evian stock will soar.

Whether you like it or not, Victorians are already drinking treated / recycled water. This water has been recycled from the sewage treatment plants. I don't know whether NSW is doing anything similar atm, but if they're not now then they're crazy, as their water levels are lower than Victoria's.

Basically there is no choice in the matter. We have to drink water to survive. Oh and if you think that bottled water is any better from you, then think again. Bottled water does not come from the springs. Basically the bottled water has had everything taken out of it. The bonus is that it doesn't come with any sort of chemicals in it. The big con about it is that there are absolutely no nutrients in it, just water. Not to mention that bottled water costs more than petrol. I also find it funny that you can't put tap water into your radiator, but it is perfectly fine to drink, hrmm.

I could sit here all day and go on about how I really don't like drinking treated water, but I won't. I'll summarise by saying that everyone should go buy a water filter. It will take all of the bad chemicals out of the water (including chlorine and aluminium), but keep the good nutrients in it. Most people have absolutely no idea what they're drinking, and it's quite sad really.

I haven't done this yet, but if any Victorians want to know whether they're drinking sewage water, then ring up Melbourne Water and ask. Ask them a direct question (ie: "Does our tap water come from treated sewage water?"), and they will have to tell you the truth. There's plenty of references about this in the Herald Sun, The Age + The Australian.

it's true...

^
that is incorrect Pekkie...Victorians still use drinking water (ie not treated sewerage) in our water-guzzling power plants in the la trobe. PLans are being made to change this...but before i get off track, im quite certain that *no* victorian drinks recycled sewerage. unless by choice.

and its (in some parts of) NSW who are already using recycled water. Not for drinking but for other uses (like garden and such)



Australia is the only country in the world that uses fresh drinking water in our toilets.

I *DO* Actually Have The Tank, Though

Ya know you could all just get tanks
then drive them to the nearest place
that sells water tanks & buy one.
Like, I've got a 2200L tank that uses
roof run-off water for, you know,
gardening, hosing, car washing,
filling baby pools
and that sorta thing.
Runs off a pump 'n' shit that in total
came to about $400-
Fun.
Not practical, really, ATM.
But you could still drive the tank around.
Like that guy on that World's Worst Driver's Show.

Bet if you had a tank
you could demand all
the water you wanted anyway.
Or petrol.
The levels people.
The levels.

Shnouzerpuff said:

Evian stock will soar.

Click to expand...

don't be so naive

Re: it's true...

KemicalBurn said:

^
that is incorrect Pekkie...Victorians still use drinking water (ie not treated sewerage) in our water-guzzling power plants in the la trobe. PLans are being made to change this...but before i get off track, im quite certain that *no* victorian drinks recycled sewerage. unless by choice.

and its (in some parts of) NSW who are already using recycled water. Not for drinking but for other uses (like garden and such)

Click to expand...

Actually it's not incorrect. I'm not saying that we don't also drink water from the catchments, but we definately do have some treated water that goes into our pipes. If I am wrong and I find evidance to say I'm wrong then I'll apologise. I'll see if I can find something to back up my statements.

Also if someone drank sewage water, then I doubt that you would know (unless you asked). It is treated so well that the water look clear, maybe a little grey. If anyone has a pool then they should test their water with a chlorine kit. The results can be scary and surprising. I've tested my water that way (twice because I didn't believe the results I got off the doctor the first time), and both times they came up badly. I mean by this that the chlorine levels in the water is the exact same levels that should be in your swimming pool.

^
Dude, you sound like a reporter off Today Tonight or ACA.

Of course the water coming from our taps is going to have chemicals in it. This, however, doesnt not suggest that we are drinking sewerage, treated or otherwise.


What it does suggest is that our water is stored in unhygeinic places (like "dams") and it is sent to us via unhygeinic methods (like "pipes"). The state government has the responibilty of making sure this water is safe for us to drink. Chemicals are used to make sure this is so.

Also, melbourne has its water 'flourodated' which would contribute to the "greyness" you mentioned.

You find some evidence. Then we'll talk