recycled water

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What Rest Of India Can Learn From Nagpur, First City To Recycle More Than 90% Of Sewage Water

Abraham, B. (2019, January 17). What Rest Of India Can Learn From Nagpur, First City To Recycle More Than 90% Of Sewage Water. Retrieved from https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/here-is-what-rest-of-india-can-learn-from-nagpur-which-will-be-first-city-to-recycle-more-than-90-per-cent-of-sewage-water-360561.html

Cities in India are at risk of experiencing a water crisis because groundwater levels are decreasing. With an increasing demand, the only answer to this problem is recycling and reusing sewage water that would otherwise go to waste. Nagpur is predicted to be the first city in India to recycle more than 90 percent of it’s ‘toilet water’. Recycling waste water could be distributed and used for gardening, toilet, and laundry services. Another city, Bengaluru generates approximately 1600 MLD sewage and only recycles 600 MLD, leaving about 80 percent to go to waste. This wastewater is then let out to other bodies of water, contaminating them.

This is another example that links a shortage of water to money. People of India have to act in the near future because if their freshwater is being contaminated by their wastewater and potable water isn’t being produced from the wastewater, where are people expecting to get water from. Like other articles I’ve read, people need to prioritize this as soon as possible because doing otherwise may be of a higher cost later. Unlike the article about Mexico, city’s in India don’t seem to have a budget allocated to creating recycling water plants. Asking for aid from other countries could be a possibility.

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Recycled Water Could Solve Beijing’s Water Woes, But Implementation Falls Short

Neighbour, D. (2018, November 19). Recycled Water Could Solve Beijing’s Water Woes, But Implementation Falls Short. Retrieved from https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2018/11/recycled-water-solve-beijings-water-woes-implementation-falls-short-2/

In the mid-2000s Beijing depleted its local groundwater and nearby rivers. In 2014 they began to rely on water that was being shuttled over from south China. These, though solutions, are known to be short-term and very expensive. At last, water recycling was brought into the picture. Grey water or “middle water” as the Chinese call it, is non-potable water that can be used for landscaping, irrigation, flushing toilets, and replenishing groundwater. Unfortunately, only 20 percent of the city’s water is produced from recycling because commercial and residential decentralized water reuse systems are failing. A large reason to this is public distrust and lack of support since they believe the water quality is much poorer and they will opt out of having it in their building even if it is cheaper in price.

This article brought me back to something I learned about when I started to research this topic: the yuck factor. Many people fear that recycled water isn’t healthy. In the case of the 22 million Beijing citizens, that may be true since the faculties that run this process aren’t being maintained. What this community has to understand is that an agreement has to be made soon. The government has to begin to fund and pay for the recycling plants maintenance so that people trust the water and use it. This will help in the long run and they won’t deplete their surface water reserve. They all have to realize that not doing so will lead to a bigger expense in the future if they have to continue transporting water from other cities.

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Mexico City Keeps Sinking As Its Water Supply Wastes Away

Kahn, C. (2018, September 14). Mexico City Keeps Sinking As Its Water Supply Wastes Away. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2018/09/14/647601623/mexico-city-keeps-sinking-as-its-water-supply-wastes-away

Mexico City during the rainy season is a clogged-up bathtub: Despite the rainfall, Mexico City’s 20 million residents don’t have enough water to drink. The rain will typically run off concrete covered streets into a drainage system built to avoid flooding. Drinking water has to come from an aquifer under the city, and as the water table drops, the city sinks. Water is usually piped in from hundreds of miles to manke only 30 percent of the city’s water needs. Water that was stored for thousands of years is being pumped out without any being put back in. The question at hand is how does the city recycle the water or use it to recharge the aquifer instead of moving it out of the city.

This article didn’t go into depth about recycled water use except that it is needed. After reading, the main solution might be to use the current $2 billion dollar budget on a system that recycles rainwater and makes it potable. Doing this may increase flooding but a short period of flooding in the near future could decrease the chance of having a sunken city in the far future. A part of the reading addresses the inequalities between social class and how wealthier communities consume up to 400 liters of water while the poor can only get 40 or so to drink. Water is a need and if the money is there, Mexico City needs to start prioritizing a system to recycle water.

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‘It’s a disgrace’: Angry farmers call for access to recycled water

Davis, J. (2018, August 10). ‘It’s a disgrace’: Angry farmers call for access to recycled water. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-08-11/farmers-angry-about-loss-of-recycled-water/10106064

In Melbourne, Australia, a pipeline pumps approximately 350 million litres of Class A recycled water out to sea every day. The quality of the water being pumped out is good enough to irrigate crops fields. Many farmers are angry at the government for not transporting the recycled water to their farms and investing the money elsewhere. Mayor of the city says that federal and state governments should work together to fund the infrastructure to get recycled water up to the agricultural fields. South Australia is well on this project as they began the Virginia Pipeline Scheme doing just this.

I thought it was interesting to read about Australia’s struggle with droughts as it’s very similar to the struggles we’ve has here in California. While searching for similar articles about recycled water use and drought in Australia, I did not find that they have experienced wildfires like California. Their true problem is money and moving recycled water that is produced in the city to farmland. I think that if the water being produced is not potable drinking water for people, then it shouldn’t be produced in the city. I’m almost certain Australia has a yearly budget for projects like most other places so if they are spending money on the pipes to transport water, they could invest and build a plant closer to farmland.

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Foxconn plans to sharply limit water use at its plant in Mount Pleasant.

Bergquist, L. (2018, June 19). Foxconn plans to sharply limit water use at its plant in Mount Pleasant. Retrieved November,
2018, from
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/19/foxconn-announces-plans-sharply-limit-water-use-its-plant/7
14503002/

Foxconn Technology Group announced that they’d be investing $30 million to build a system to recycle water. Their goal is to prevent taking water from Lake Michigan while still allowing their manufacturing plant to function. They believe technology will reduce water intake by more than 3.5 million gallons per day. Their system will eliminate manufacturing process waste water by distilling it, recycling it, and reusing it.
Companies are beginning to consider the triple bottom line more and more. Foxconn will ultimately benefit themselves economically, the environment, and hopefully the people creating their product. Despite reducing water intake, the tech system they want to create is sure to need a lot of energy. This allows us to question if technology is really as beneficial as it is said to be. Their $10 billion factory “would employ up to 13,000 employees. The project would be the largest private development in Wisconsin history — a deal made possible with $3 billion in state incentives.” In hopes of following the values for their Taiwan-based company they want to exceed all the set regulations.

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Council OKs $614 Million for ‘Cutting Edge’ Recycled Drinking Water Project.

Jennewein, C. (2018, September 26). Council OKs $614 Million for ‘Cutting Edge’ Recycled Drinking Water Project. Retrieved
November, 2018, from https://timesofsandiego.com/tech/2018/09/26/council-oks-614-million-for-cutting-edge-recycled-drinking-water-project/

In San Diego, the council approved a $614 million project to begin construction on an innovative way to recycle water. Called Pure Water, it is scheduled to begin in 2019 and open in 2021. This system will purify 30 million gallons a day into drinking water. Mayor Kevin Faulconer insists that this is a wealthy investment so that San Diego becomes independent from other county’s for water. A total $1.25 billion price tag will have phases. By the time it is completed, it is hoped that San Diego will have approximately 83 million gallons of recycled water.
San Diego, being part of California and relatively close to dry SoCal conditions, took the decision to work with what we all have, toilet water. They requested a very large federal loan but with great judgement. I think it is important to note that the US Environmental Protection Agency is covering 49 percent of the cost of the project, very close to half. When a government agency supports such a large project, there are definitely high hopes for its success.

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How Recycled Wastewater Could Pump New Life Into Tucson.

Weiser, M. (2018, July 13). How Recycled Wastewater Could Pump New Life Into Tucson. Retrieved November, 2018, from
https://www.worldcrunch.com/eyes-on-the-us/how-recycled-wastewater-could-pump-new-life-into-tucson

In Tucson, Arizona, plans for using recycled water go beyond satisfying thirst. Their goal is to utilize treated wastewater to revive the Santa Cruz River, after being completely dried up for 70 years. Groundwater pumping and development were one of the main reasons that caused the historical aquatic habitat to evaporate. Pipes that are used for landscape irrigation would be moved a tad bit so that they begin the flow of a river. After the chlorine is extracted from the recycled water, wildlife can benefit as well. All depends on the permit they await but with a majority in favor, the project is expected to start by May 2019.
At first I thought that wanting to ornate a dried up city with a river that would cut the water availability by fifty percent, was insane. However, after reading the motivations of Tucson, their goal makes sense. This would make the city much more appealing, people would make up for overusing the water they had at one point, but most importantly, the water that is being used will help the aquifer fill so that it is then used for drinking water. Like in another article, this reinforces the message that water is king and it is overall very important to one’s life.

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A major US city will start drinking its own sewage. Others need to follow.

Schlanger, Z. (2018, August 23). A major US city will start drinking its own sewage. Others need to follow. Retrieved
November, 2018, from https://qz.com/1353825/a-major-us-city-will-start-drinking-its-own-sewage-others-need-to-follow/

El Paso, Texas is one of the driest places to live in within the US. It has been compared to Namibia in sub-Saharan Africa. They understood they had a problem when it was calculated that by 2025, their water reserve or aquifer would be completely empty and dry. One of their biggest problems was possed when the neighboring state, New Mexico, also needed water and they wanted a great part of it. Ed Archuleta, an engineer from New Mexico came to El Paso, employed one of his best solutions and not only saved but allowed El Paso to prosper during one of its driest seasons in 2011. Archuleta knew that water is an essential part to a person’s identity and his plan was for the long run.
After reading the first half of this article, I was so amazed at the accomplishment that this city in Texas did. I thought that it was great that the author mentioned that a key to their success was having a plan and implementing it. They had people patrol the streets so homeowners wouldn’t water their yard that wasn’t meant to thrive with the dry conditions. After learning about the use of recycled water, I was interested if other states were being as efficient. El Paso is definitely a great example of what could be if a community decided to ignore the “yuck factor” of recycled water and use technology to their benefit.

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California Wildfires Caused Unexpected Benzene Contamination of Drinking Water

Wilson, E. K. (2018, June 19). California Wildfires Caused Unexpected Benzene Contamination of Drinking Water. CEN RSS, American Chemical Society. Retrieved September 1, 2018 from https://cen.acs.org/environment/water/California-wildfires-caused-unexpected-benzene/96/i26

 

Northern California has experienced much damage because of the wild fires. Asides from destroying houses/structures and killing a number of people, water systems are at risk of contamination. Benzene levels escalated post the Santa Rosa fires, threatening the city to have to change all the water infrastructure. Luckily, the levels decreased and the city plans to invest $3.4 million, instead of $43 million, to ensuring their water system. The true problem being faced now is determining what plastic should be used as a replacement.  

This particular article doesn’t talk about the use of recycled water specifically. It does however tie every topic outlined above. As a consequence of a lack of rainfall, California stepped into a drought. Dry conditions made parts of California more prone to wildfires. Wildfires activated benzene levels so that water running through plastic pipes became contaminated. And we come back to the importance of drinking water and how we will even keep water running through said plastic pipes: treated recycled water.

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Californians Are Embracing Recycled Drinking Water, so Why Isn’t Sacramento?

Sabalow, R. (2018, March 30). Californians Are Embracing Recycled Drinking Water, so Why Isn’t Sacramento? Sacbee, The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved September 1, 2018 from https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article206384744.html

 

Sacramento, unlike the rest of California, has a set plan from which to get drinking water. Sacramento River, American River, and Folsom Lake provide abundant and affordable water supplies, holding off the need to build new infrastructure to accumulate recycled water into drinking water. Southern California and San Diego have started building to continue the process of reverse osmosis for their water. Exactly 12 years ago, the Water Replenishment District of Southern California decided to stop pumping in water from Northern California and the Colorado River since it was costly and unreliable. Today, because of recycled water, they are almost completely independent of imported water.

I really like that the article notes that recycling waste water isn’t the most prefered kind of drinking water but it does serve as a “drought proof supply”. It’s also included that Sacramento sends about 5 million gallons of recycled water per day to Southern California, and this exemplifies how the problem should be handled, together. Lastly, this is a useful article because it gives more details about the other  topics discussed in the links above.