I don't know about you guys but the idea of consuming and bathing in other peoples fecal matter is quite disturbing.
If living in a country with states named 'Queensland' and 'New South Wales' and a tool for a Prime Minister wasn't bad enough, we are now entering 'Level 5 Water Restrictions' and subsequently in the next few years will be forced to consume recycled sewage.
Now I might be wrong, but I was under the assumption that more than 70% of the earth is WATER. Now I'm also gonna go out on a limb and say that most of that 70% is the ocean. Who was the dickhead who thought of recycling shit?
Of course, the current justification is that other major cities do it (Washington, London, Singapore, etc).
"If it's good for them, it's good for us"
Which may be true, but the filtration process that Queensland will be using only takes a couple of days, where as
in the cities mentioned the process takes weeks. We didn't even get a choice. Our state-member-dude made that for us. I'm so proud to be Australian.
Please,come visit our beautiful pristine beaches, desolate outback and while your at it have a taste of our excrement.
Anyways, the point of the post is just to get your opinions, maybe your living in one of the said places above and already is subjected to this uhh... shit.
I also live in QLD, they say the water produced has less in it than the water already in our dams, and to be honest we don't have much of a choice: move out of QLD or recycle water (don't mention de-salination (sp?) because that's supposed to be coming too )
I don't like it much, but meh. (mmm tastey sh*t... lol)
Assault Andy Administrator
I make other people create vaporware
Registered 29/07/2002
Points 5686
12th April, 2007 at 00:15:25 -
I live in Melbourne. I don't think that we're as affected by the drought as you guys, because of the rivers and stuff down here. But I totally agree, there must be other options. You'd think de-salination would be the easiest option?
Yeah they do but it's the principal. We didn't even get a say, much less a choice. And also I've heard recycled sewage plants are VERY prone to malfunctioning due to the numerous filtration systems.
I wouldn't drink recycled sewage water even if it was more 'healthier' than normal water. Even if by drinking it enchanted me with uber klikking skills I still would decline.
you don't let wc water get directly into the ocean, imagine how much poo and stuff would fill the ocean then wc water is directed to a cleaning facility and then let back out into the ground water afaik.
Quit your yapping and be thankful you even have water. The reprocessed water is as clean as water from rivers. But I suppose you don't mind the idea of drinking duck shit, decaying fish matter and other crap, whereas human waste is completely out of the question.
No fecal matter remains in the water, no bacteria remain in the water and no "taste" is left in the water. So what's your problem? Are you really that much of a retard that you'd try to boycott perfectly good ideas to get over a perfectly real problem?
BTW, I live in an area in the vicinity of a sewage plant and also an asbestos warehouse.
Fantastic, how you're complaining about your water having non-existent fecal matter in it, while on the other side of the world people are dying in millions because they don't even have any water to complain about, or because their water actually contains real crap and bacteria.
How much tap water do you drink anyway?
I hardly drink any at the moment although i did go through a phase of having at least one glass a day a while ago.
Yes, I'd much rather drink recycled water. Due to the number of people whining it's going to be under far more scrutiny, and therefore be far cleaner. Even if you love the other wonderful things in 'normal' water, let's not forget the giardia and cryptosporidium scare we had here in Sydney a few years back. I believe that was from cow shit, specifically.
Good idea ^^ much better to die of dehydration then to have to think about where the water came from >_>. Texas has been recycling water forever as we are always going through droughts and things.
The point is don't throw away a perfectly good solution because of misguided beliefs...
I'd hate to be drinking recycled water. It might be a lot cleaner than rainwater, but the thought of that what I drank was something I wouldn't even touch. Singapore seems to be doing it OK, but for some reason we were almost literally pointing guns with them over water prices.
Most of the time, recycled water is saved for use in industries, agriculture, etc. But I guess if it makes you feel better, your current water supply might be just as disturbing. I saw people swimming/fishing in the processed water near where I stay. All of them were foreign labor who had no idea where the water came from and thought it was a lake .
Another similar point of real idiocy are the people who would pay double or triple for 'fish caught in the wild' which were supposedly healthier than farmed fish. Some later complained because they couldn't tell the difference.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
Out of curiosity, what's so complicated about desalination? I always thought you could just boil/evaporate the stuff anbd have an angled condensing plate leading to another tub. Water evaporates, rises, condenses on the plate, then the drips roll down cos of the angle and it trickles neatly into the new tub...
That works for small volumes, but it would take a whole lot of power to run enough for a water supply. (I haven't looked it up, but) I assume there's a better process.
Man, am I disappointed in the ignorance of a few of our members, especially Axel, whom I once respected. The following question is directed at you, Axel.
Q> Which is 'worse'?
A) To eat shit because you have NO OTHER CHOICE.
B) To eat shit because it's cheaper.
That's it Axel, you argument really was that easy to beat.
Now, it's your turn Shadrach. By reading your post, it is very evident that you live near a sewage plant. The shit has already started coming from your mouth. Are you sure the sewage plant you live near isn't the hospital you were born at?
Now, Dipshit, do you not think that normal water goes through a filtration process anyways? And hell yes I would prefer drinking duck shit over human shit (if that was the case.) I don't know anyone who would disagree with that.
Now I know I asked for opinions, and I value other people's even if I disagree with it. If your going to sink to name-calling, I will match you and do one better, that's why my reply to Shadrach was so unpleasant. I do not enjoy stupid little forum wars, nor do I enjoy disrespecting other people. If you have only insults and stupid comments to reply (Shadrach), please do so somewhere else.
Like Axel said, you are completely missing the point.
"Man, am I disappointed in the ignorance of a few of our members"
You calling us ignorant is like Rik Waller calling Kate Moss fat. If you took a minute to look at the facts you would realise that recycled water and "normal" water contain the same thing. How can you not get your stupid little brain around that? Recycled water has no shit in it.
Now let's take a minute to rephrase that for people of your intelligence level, Clownface:
WATER GOOD! SHIT WATER - SHIT = WATER. SHIT WATER GOOD!
I am all for respecting people's opinions, but frankly you do not deserve any.
I'd be more worried about the crap they put in after it's purified. Fluoride and all that. What about the pipes pumping any water into your home? They might contain blood, piss and bits of sick.
all you guys who are complaining about having CLEAN (once crap filled water to drink are stupid. All water is recycled anyway, they are just removing natire as the middleman. When treatment plants break down, they shut off the lines from the broken pumps, fix them and clean them. I however am from California and have arospace waste in my water, i still drink it cause i'm gonna die anyway
ClownLove, I've never seen you on these boards before, but talking about people like that won't get you a lot of respect and certainly none from me.
I think you should first of all bear in mind the principle that ignorance is not an excuse to complain about something, especially not on such a grand scale.
The earth is 70% water or thereabouts, but have you ever tried drinking sea water? Well in case you didn't know; seawater is full of salt and drinking it will make you very ill and can even kill you. So why can't they just take the salt out? Because the process of getting the salt out of salt water is very energy consuming and expensive. It is highly doubtful that such a scheme would be viable even with an unlimited budget.
In actual fact all water is recycled, even the stuff that comes out of springs. In short this is because water evaporates into clouds which then rain onto mountains or permeable rock forming rivers or underground natural reservoirs from which we can draw a water supply. By the time the water has been recycled it certainly won't have "excrement" in it. It may contain a few harmless, or even healthy minerals that were once a part of someone's excrement, but it has been broken down to such an extent it could have come from anywhere.
So you've *heard* that recycled sewage plants are VERY prone to malfunctioning? Who from? A sewage recycling expert? Or a bloke down the pub? Seriously try to be sceptical about what people say, just because they state something as fact doesn't mean they have a clue what they are talking about. Use your common sense; you said they use water recycling in major cities, and when was the last time you heard of a cholera epidemic in western civilisation? If something does go wrong and the water isn't filtered correctly, they don't just pump it anyway and hope for the best. If something goes wrong, the people running the plant will know about and hence be able to do something about it, so there is really nothing to be worried about concerning the hygiene of the water.
If the hygiene doesn't concern you and you just "don't want to drink water that's touched other peoples poo" then you should really revise your attitude. It's a simplistic and ignorant view that borders on superstitious.
Mr. James- "What about the pipes pumping any water into your home? They might contain blood, piss and bits of sick."
That made me laugh so hard. Why would there be blood, piss or sick in the ingoing water pipes?!? You'd have to dig up the ground and drill a hole in the pipe... all so you can hurl into someones water supply!!
Stuckboy
JC Denton: "I know your UNATCO killphrase: Laputan Machine."
Gunther Hermann: "I - am - not - a - machi --"
JC Denton: "Sticks and stones..."
Dudes, tap water (Recycled or not, and there use to be a recycling plant nearby) is far safer than bottled water, and every report has stated this, for the UK anyway.
Bacteria levels, and more importantly heavy metal levels (in ppm, parts per million) were almost half of that of bottled water.
Might be different in other countries but I recommend drinking tap water over bottled in the UK!
Personally i dont like the Flourine levels in water either, or the stuff they add to make it taste fresh - it was some salt of aluminnium which i cant remember now. Aluminnium makes you go KErAzy!
Personally, I'm kinda wondering why desalinization is less often used than recycled water. Because there's solid objects or too much salt in the sea that'll screw the system up? Because of the thickness of waste (salt) that'll be dumped back into the sea? Because people are afraid that it'll screw up once in a dozen years, making people unknowingly consume fatal salt water? Strangely enough... the same problem applies to shit water, only difference is that shit water is cheaper to put up since the pipes are already there.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
We have a natural spring in our garden (LoL I live in SPRINGhead, next to WATERhead) which pumps out drinkable water but it's not to my taste. Too much like Evian, calcium-y. Nice to know that when the world ends this summer from all the lakes drying up that we might have this spring keeping us alive for a few more weeks.
"Personally, I'm kinda wondering why desalinization is less often used than recycled water. Because there's solid objects or too much salt in the sea that'll screw the system up? Because of the thickness of waste (salt) that'll be dumped back into the sea? Because people are afraid that it'll screw up once in a dozen years, making people unknowingly consume fatal salt water?"
Read:
"The earth is 70% water or thereabouts, but have you ever tried drinking sea water? Well in case you didn't know; seawater is full of salt and drinking it will make you very ill and can even kill you. So why can't they just take the salt out? Because the process of getting the salt out of salt water is very energy consuming and expensive. It is highly doubtful that such a scheme would be viable even with an unlimited budget."
"If something does go wrong and the water isn't filtered correctly, they don't just pump it anyway and hope for the best. If something goes wrong, the people running the plant will know about and hence be able to do something about it, so there is really nothing to be worried about concerning the hygiene of the water."
Yes, I can understand our developed society discussing the advantages of bottled water over tap water and vice versa, but the developing african countries? Why do they care about water when they don't even have video games or internet?
(The above post is a joke, but feel free to take it seriously if you want to make a fool of yourself)
- Ok, you must admit that was the most creative cussing this site have ever seen -
And the process of taking crap out of crap water is cheaper than the process of taking salt out of salt water? There's a lot more salt in human waste. And if I've learned anything from chemistry classes and a father's friend who used to work in the salt industry.. taking out the salt from salt water is no more energy consuming than heavy industries like acid or steel manufacturing. Treating waste on the other hand, is almost the same process, except that there's a lower ratio of water to waste and there'd probably be a lot more bacteria filters.
There's a difference between the taste of salt water and freshwater, but it's not nearly as noticable as the difference between crap water and fresh water, not that I've even come close to trying.
Yet some countries would rather recycle sewage than plant desalinization plants.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
I know I've read some stuff, like on the Wiki, saying that desalination plants are expensive to run, but I can't think why that should be the case.
If your main problem is salt, don't you just evaporate the water?
Just get a shallow pan, pop a pane of glass at an angle over the top, leave it in the sun, and voila: The water evaporates, leaving the salt in the pan, condenses on the glass, rolls down as drips and plops into a separate bowl.
Then just, like, pop a grill on the end of the ocean pipes so you don't suck in penguins and junk.
Thing is, how much energy would you need to evaporate a high amount of water? It's fine with small pans, because the water is always near the top and gains enough energy to be evaporated, but with massive amounts of water this is not feasible. You would need either a huge pan (I mean like the size of a town), or something stronger than sunlight as a heat source. It would cost too much.
There's not more salt in human waste than in saltwater, otherwise we'd all die of massive sodium intake.
Treating waste is pretty lengthy, but not a complicated process. And there are some useful by-products, whereas the only by-product of desalination is salt (which can irreparably damage the environment is not disposed of correctly, which is expensive).
In the end, the products are the same, so why not choose the cheaper?
If the salt content of human waste is stronger than that of seawater, this is nullified by huge water content of the waste that goes out of our houses through the pipes. Every time you flush the toilet, loads of water is flushed away for what, 3 cubic inches of turd?
Stuckboy
JC Denton: "I know your UNATCO killphrase: Laputan Machine."
Gunther Hermann: "I - am - not - a - machi --"
JC Denton: "Sticks and stones..."
It's a bit harder with huge amounts of water, since saltwater boils at a high temperature, a huge pan would need a LOT of heat to get it to that temperature (but not more than say... the amount it would take to melt steel in a huge pan).
"There's not more salt in human waste than in saltwater, otherwise we'd all die of massive sodium intake."
> That's why salt water is so dehydrating... because the salt is flushed out of the body, which is why there's salt in waste. Try comparing the taste of sweat to seawater.
"If the salt content of human waste is stronger than that of seawater, this is nullified by huge water content of the waste that goes out of our houses through the pipes. Every time you flush the toilet, loads of water is flushed away for what, 3 cubic inches of turd?"
> Good point.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
A bit harder? Muz, you do realize that you're actually talking about quite a shitload of saltwater there? I don't know the exact numbers, but the average daily water consumption per person in first world countries is about 200 liters. Multiply that with the number of inhabitants of the city in question, and you should have the amount of water you'd have to boil (and I tell you, that's quite a big number for places like Queensland, etc). Where exactly are you hoping to find the energy to do that?
Yeah I got my facts wrong, once, on that newspage, because of a silly misunderstanding on my part, which I already admitted. And I clearly stated that I might be wrong about the water consumption rate. So how about you stop harassing me, and get over the whole thing already? Kthx?
"That's why salt water is so dehydrating... because the salt is flushed out of the body, which is why there's salt in waste. Try comparing the taste of sweat to seawater."
But salt water isn't dehydrating. How can something that is mostly made of water be dehydrating? It's like when people say alcohol dehydrates you - it does, but the liquid it is contained in more than makes up for it.
Sweat is a lot less salty than seawater. Seriously, have you ever tasted salt water?
"It's a bit harder with huge amounts of water, since saltwater boils at a high temperature, a huge pan would need a LOT of heat to get it to that temperature (but not more than say... the amount it would take to melt steel in a huge pan)."
Why compare water with steel? It is true that steel takes a lot of energy to melt, but it is the only way to make it. There are fair cheaper and more environmentally friendly ways of treating water, so why not use them?
Actually, to use your own water/metal comparison - which is cheaper? Recycling or electrolysis of aluminium?
"But salt water isn't dehydrating. How can something that is mostly made of water be dehydrating?"
I believe that salt holds onto water. Also it increases your blood pressure since the salt going through your blood will still have water attached to it.
I think thats part of the problem.
I heard you can extract gold from seawater is you process enough of it, However that too is just too expensive to be worthwhile.
It's not exactly dehydrating, but it has the same effect in that the salt in the water causes the water to deliver less... well, hydration that it normally does, so it feels like dehydration.
Axel:
You get the energy from powerplants . It only takes 0.66 kcals/liter to treat sea water. Really, the energy used is NOTHING compared to the energy food factories use. However, since countries like Singapore can point a few tanks and missiles at their neighbors and demand water at < US$0.01 per 1200 gallons, threatening your neighbors is a cheaper option..
"But salt water isn't dehydrating. How can something that is mostly made of water be dehydrating?"
> Alcohol, caffiene only requires a bit of water to process. However, the human kidney requires a lot more water to process seawater than it gains from the water, so that results in dehydration. Why do you think people stranded at sea die of thirst if they can just drink the water around them? The first rule of survival at sea is to never drink seawater .
"Sweat is a lot less salty than seawater. Seriously, have you ever tasted salt water?"
> Well, ok, they're actually about the same, 7.5% for seawater, 3-4% for sweat. There's probably more in urine, but like someone said, that's counter by the 5 gallons it takes to flush the toilet.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
If it's so easy and cheap to do, why isn't it in place already?
Seriously if you just go out there and propose the idea to the government and get funds to build your own small scale one to say "I told you so" rather than arguing about it online - you might save the whole friggin world.
"Well, ok, they're actually about the same, 7.5% for seawater, 3-4% for sweat."
That's not about the same, one is double the salt content of the other!
"Really, the energy used is NOTHING compared to the energy food factories use."
There you go again! Comparing and contrasting two separate ideas!
If you're still arguing you're a fool. If it was so cheap and good, every dry country in the world would use desalination, and they don't.
I always see commercials by GE for water desalination, and how they're pioneering it. I figured desalination would be a better bet than filtering poo out.
You people are far too concerned. Recycled water has been around forever. Water has been around forever. The water you drink today may have very well come from a dinosauer penis at one point. If anything, I'd be more concerned about the chemicals they're putting IN the water. Flouride is some nasty shit, and it's typically included in tap water (over here in the US anyway). Not to mention the heavy metal content.
We live too clean of a lifestlye in general, if we keep disinfecting things and antibioticing everything, in time our immune system won't be able to handle even a common cold. I'm not proposing we live in our own feces or anything, but damn!
"We live too clean of a lifestlye in general, if we keep disinfecting things and antibioticing everything, in time our immune system won't be able to handle even a common cold. I'm not proposing we live in our own feces or anything, but damn!"
That right there is why I never clean my room.
n/a
DaVince This fool just HAD to have a custom rating
Registered 04/09/2004
Points 7998
24th May, 2007 at 16:36:27 -
NEVER cleaning your room isn't healthy either. All the dust and filth piling up...
If it's so easy and cheap to do, why isn't it in place already?
Seriously if you just go out there and propose the idea to the government and get funds to build your own small scale one to say "I told you so" rather than arguing about it online - you might save the whole friggin world.
> Politics. Basically the idea that people would rather drink cheap crap water and whine a lot than pay an extra $0.10 cents per liter. Oh, and the extra energy costs would need another power plant or so (which again, is nothing compared to say, highway budgets or even the costs to maintain an extra school or two). That would enrage enviromentalists, the same people who are whining about the chemicals people put in filtered water.
So, the easier solution is to buy someone's else's water for almost nothing or recycle water and hope nobody notices. Both of these have their own disadvantages, but that's another argument.
"Well, ok, they're actually about the same, 7.5% for seawater, 3-4% for sweat."
That's not about the same, one is double the salt content of the other!
> About the same in energy costs to desalinize. Most of the energy is in boiling the water + salt, with over 90% they're about the same.
"Really, the energy used is NOTHING compared to the energy food factories use."
There you go again! Comparing and contrasting two separate ideas!
> Only if you insist on comparing the stats of both typical nerd style. Just pointing out that you could probably save a few lives just by taking a small hit in taxes, but hey, the money a government gets from food factories and steel mills are more important than water.
If you're still arguing you're a fool. If it was so cheap and good, every dry country in the world would use desalination, and they don't.
> LOL, I have a reason for arguing. And yes, a lot of dry countries do use desalinization.
But what's really disturbing is not the where it comes from or what people add to it. The worst thing is where it's stored. Check out the water tanks in the typical tenement and you're likely to find a lot of things in it that'd make you vow not to drink it. Wood, insects, dirt, ash, rust. Especially rust. My house's water tank was blocked with sludge before we cleaned it out, didn't notice because the water in the shower was quite clear, though the brownish color on the shower and the filters kinda gave it out.
Want something else disturbing? A lot of the drinks sold in stadiums and near train/bus stations here use unfiltered, uncooked water. Some people even take it direct from the bathroom. I have a good friend who did so, claimed that the water is no dirtier than water you take from the kitchen
And don't get me started on the amount of bacteria on the kitchen sponge..
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
DaVince This fool just HAD to have a custom rating
Registered 04/09/2004
Points 7998
25th May, 2007 at 03:28:08 -
"Yes, which I'm now immune to."
You can't be immune to dust. You breathe it in, your longues get filled up with dust, you cough a lot and possibly get breathing problems. Stuff like that.
Of course, it'd take a LOT of not cleaning up before that happens.
FFS, everyone's going on about the shit that's in water. Just how many times have you suffered illness because of the water from your tap. Zero!!! How many times have you found a woodlouse in your bath? Zero!!!
Everyone just shut up and be thankful for your endless, cheap, safe water supply.
Incidentally when I was up on Mull, our water supply came from a burn beside the house. Lovely stuff it was. Shame the pressure was so low but it tasted like good bottled water. No fluoride or out like that.
Finally they are building desalination plants in Australia. Chrisbo is right it is much better, its just the price that makes the Government hesitate, but with the new budget released weeks ago they can now go for it.
ModernGameCreations
DaVince This fool just HAD to have a custom rating
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)
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it was entirely a joke. Of course they're all okay! Was a bit of a reference to DarkPlace (if anyone has seen it).
Edited by the Author.
