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Drought-Stricken Texas Town Taps Urine For Water

Posted by samzenpus on from the it's-important-to-stay-hydrated dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Texas is in the midst of a drought so severe that local water management teams have decided to distribute reclaimed wastewater (aka urine). The Colorado River Municipal Water District in West Texas has broken ground on a $13 million plant that will capture treated wastewater and ready it for redistribution. After being run through microfilters and undergoing reverse osmosis, slimy sewage is cleansed with peroxide and ultraviolet light. This intense process ensures that any pharmaceuticals and carcinogens are removed, and that the H2O stands up to drinking water regulations."

37 of 300 comments (clear)

  1. If your town gets its water from a river... by bmo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...then you're drinking filtered sewage anyway.

    Not news.

    --
    BMO

    1. Re:If your town gets its water from a river... by Moryath · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What would be news is if the USA would get their heads out of their asses regarding greywater systems. I tried to see about getting one set up in my house only to be shown a local ordinance (they seem to be just about universal round my state) banning them because it LESSENS usage of the sewer system. The bullshit reason given was that they are worried about the sewer system "drying out" and developing problems if the water levels in the sewer pipes "get too low." Meanwhile, they altered the rates to a tiered system so that if you use an average amount of water (enough even to keep your foundation from cracking and shifting you wind up paying the excessively high "overuse" rate, ostensibly to "encourage people to use less water".

      Yes, that's right. I can't install a system to use greywater to water my lawn and garden plants because the local water monopoly (bought and paid for a decade ago when the Republicans took over my county and sold off the public utility to private hands) want to FORCE ME TO USE MORE WATER and bribed the local government to pass an anti-greywater ordinance.

    2. Re:If your town gets its water from a river... by camperdave · · Score: 2

      If they're turning to urine, given it's relatively insignificant volume, then that tells you how bad the drought is there.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    3. Re:If your town gets its water from a river... by Golddess · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What I find even more amusing are the people who are all "eww yuck" over stories about recycling urine for drinking, and then go on to consume an alcoholic beverage (aka, yeast urine).

      --
      "I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
    4. Re:If your town gets its water from a river... by NFN_NLN · · Score: 2

      They're not turning to just urine, they're using all waste water.

      No. I think they're rebuilding the entire infrastructure:
      - Outbound general waste water
      - Outbound urine
      - Inbound clean water
      - Inbound cleaned urine water for drinking only

      You are required by law to urinate and only urinate into the outbound urine line. And all water destined for direct human consumption must come from the "Inbound cleaned urine" line. ... you wanted internal infrastructure and jobs for Americans. If you don't drink urine then you hate America!

    5. Re:If your town gets its water from a river... by Moryath · · Score: 2

      I get the idea of maintaining enough water in the sewer. I really do.

      What I find fucking stupid is the contradictory way they go about it.

      Step #0: sell the public water utility off to a Republican robber baron.

      Step #1: Robber baron institutes a pricing scheme designed to punish people for using more water (if I use less than 1,000 gallons in a month I pay the lowest rate, each "tier" above that is doubled. If I go from 1,000 to 2,000 gallons I pay triple the price, 1,000 to 3,000 I pay 7x the price, and onwards).

      Step #2: Robber baron's corrupt stooges in city government block people from instituting meaningful technological solutions that would allow them to cut their water usage.

      If they need to put more water through the sewer system, I can think of better ways to do it. They could start by rescheduling the yearly Fire Hydrant Flush (currently done in the middle of the fucking wet season) for during the dry season and kill two birds with one stone, for instance. Right now, all it's proven to me is that Republicans don't give a crap about the environment.

    6. Re:If your town gets its water from a river... by Afell001 · · Score: 2

      This is news HOW?

      Of course Republicrats don't give a damn about the environment...or, rather, they are only concerned about it if it means profits for their cronies (and themselves) in the end. For instance, if they can charge more for an incidental change that doesn't increase their costs, but it is beneficial for the environment, then all is good with the world. If they have to pay more, then they will only do it if they are forced into it by laws, and then, only if they can't get a variance in the law in their favor. I've seen this happen time and time again with zoning requirements, impermeable ground cover and runoff/retention requirements.

      As for the tiered scheme...this only applies to residential customers. Businesses get a huge break on rates per gallon as their usage increases. Residential customers usually end up subsidizing businesses. Consider that a catfish farm just outside of San Antonio uses as much water as the entire city of San Antonio...and I bet the owners don't pay nearly as much as all the residential customers of San Antonio combined.

    7. Re:If your town gets its water from a river... by CubicleView · · Score: 2

      Every atom in out body was probably excreted by other creatures at some stage or another. I still wouldn't like to drink piss though.

  2. Already used on space missions? by DJRumpy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I assume this is similar to recycling systems used for space missions? Don't they also recycle waste for H20?

    1. Re:Already used on space missions? by hal2814 · · Score: 4, Funny

      They should bottle and market it. First we had astronaut ice cream. Now we have astronaut water!

    2. Re:Already used on space missions? by Nationless · · Score: 2

      I thought they already sold piss water under the name of American beer?

    3. Re:Already used on space missions? by Tsingi · · Score: 2

      Or better still, sell it as "Bud Light" and you wouldn't even have to purify it.

    4. Re:Already used on space missions? by Duradin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People would probably be rather suspicious of the sudden increase of its quality.

    5. Re:Already used on space missions? by operagost · · Score: 2

      Yes, because all American beer is the same, all French are cowards, and all Slashdotters live their mom's basement.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  3. About time. by cusco · · Score: 5, Informative

    About bloody time that some city in the US starts doing this. Did you know that the outflow from the Los Angeles sewage treatment plant is actually cleaner than the water that they pump (at ridiculous cost) over the mountains to the potable water intake?

    The capital of Botswana has been doing this since the 1960s. Nice to know that Texas is finally catching up to sub-Saharan Africa.

    --
    "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
    1. Re:About time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Did you know that the outflow from the Los Angeles sewage treatment plant is actually cleaner than the water that they pump (at ridiculous cost) over the mountains to the potable water intake?

      I've just returned to Europe from the USA. The water quality in LA was awful. Quite easily the worst tasting "potable" water I've ever had, and that's my experience of numerous countries (1st to 3rd world) around the globe, across 5 continents. Congrats LA.

      Also, if you have such a water problem over there... how about replacing your heavily watered lawns with rock gardens or some other less water intensive feature? I couldn't get over the level of waste of good water. Then there's the energy usage, but let's not go there for now.

    2. Re:About time. by ATestR · · Score: 3, Informative

      Don't know what he means in this particular case, but when engineers talks about contaminants in water, they are usually talking about bacterial counts as well as nitrates and other dissolved compounds. Sanitary waste water (in most of US) has to be cleaned to certain standards as far as bacterial counts as well as nitrate levels before it can be released to streams/rivers, or reused as "reclaimed" water, usually for irrigation.

      Any water used for water systems (drinking water) must be cleaned to an even higher standard before use. Unless you source is a mountain spring (not a creek!), you are almost certain to have to process it before use. The original poster's point was that often the incoming water is less sanitary than the discharge water of a sewage treatment plant.

      Come to think of it, I saw a documentary about the canal/pipe system that supplies LA a few weeks ago. I can readily believe that that water isn't too clean.

      --
      âoeAny society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
    3. Re:About time. by GooberToo · · Score: 2

      The other problem with "cleaner" is that it doesn't mean what most people think its means. "Cleaner" means in relation to the things they are actually required to measure. There has been many stories about "clean" water actually being far worse for human consumption than some "dirty" water.

      Clean, and therefore "cleaner", is completely relative. As some environment scientists say, its clean only because we don't care to actually measure how dirty it actually is; as oppose to what the EPA actually requires. Basically, what's clean versus the "clean" the EPA requires are frequently worlds apart.

    4. Re:About time. by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      What about pharmaceuticals that are excreted in urine or carcinogenic chemicals that are poured down the drain? I imagine that many of those compounds are small enough to pass through an osmotic filter.

      Yep.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    5. Re:About time. by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just as a note, please don't judge the rest of the US based on LA. Or SF. Or NY.

      It'd be like us basing our view of Europe based on ... London.

      In fact, a lot of CA has pretty normal people. LA and SF are just weird, overpopulated... LA especially, there's tons of urban sprawl in the middle of basically a desert. I don't get it.

  4. Fish have been shitting in my water for years by elrous0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Like your drinking water isn't already the toilet for fish, birds, and god-knows what other wildlife. Get over yourself, Sally.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  5. That's how bad the situation is... by uzd4ce · · Score: 2

    That it's being considered really shows how bad the drought situation in Texas is. I'm sure the quality of the water will be fine, but for people to mentally get over the stigma requires some serious problem that needs to be addressed. Pretty much the whole state is "hell" and relief does not seem anywhere in the distant future: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/seasonal_drought.html

    1. Re:That's how bad the situation is... by vlm · · Score: 2

      Sounds like a benefit, then. When I get a house, i'm installing astro-turf for my lawn. I hate mowing.

      You're on the same path as I was many years ago. What I discovered along the way about astroturf:

      Astroturf lawns literally stink from bird / animal waste, and try to turn themselves back into soil/turf unless you use almost as much water to clean them as you would to water a regular lawn, unless you live in AZ or TX or something where you'd practically need a waterfall to keep the lawn damp. So astroturf is only a net water win if you live in a desert and the HOA bans xeriscapes because its too cheap (legally enforced conspicuous consumption, etc)

      Also astroturf is remarkably expensive. More expensive than most other outdoor groundcover at the time I researched.

      If you're trying to avoid mowing, put in paver bricks if you like pulling weeds out of the decorative cracks between the bricks, or put in poured concrete patio if you like looking at random shrinkage / settling cracks. Also structures like decks kill most of the plants underneath them by shading.

      The local govt building permit requirements and exception processes warp the market so much, its almost not worth discussing across political boundaries.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  6. Rick Peery Ad by sgt+scrub · · Score: 3, Funny

    See! Were having to drink our own piss. Do you really want Rick Peery for president?!?

    --
    Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
  7. Lack of strategic planning by scarboni888 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's amazing to me that this type of thing only gets implemented due to a crisis when it should be obvious from the get go that developing and improving the methods of recycling and reclamation should always be part of the way we do anything.

    1. Re:Lack of strategic planning by vlm · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's amazing to me that this type of thing only gets implemented due to a crisis when it should be obvious from the get go that developing and improving the methods of recycling and reclamation should always be part of the way we do anything.

      Not everywhere...

      I'm currently sitting less than a mile upwind of one of the great lakes... The energy requirement for this sewage filtration process has a far larger environmental impact than just regular sewage treatment combined with pumping a bit more water out of the lake. We could probably reduce out draw out of the lake 50% with this technology, at the mere cost of kilotons of extra fly ash and mercury dumped into the lake from our coalburners ... the same lake we're getting our drinking water out of...

      California / desert SW solutions are not appropriate everywhere. If anything, on average, east of the mississippi river, we have way too much fresh water and need to focus tech on dealing with floods caused by rain. Much like fixing failing school systems or sick care systems, just dumping more money on the problem doesn't seem to help.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  8. Bear Grylls by Das+Auge · · Score: 2

    If it's good enough for Bear, it's good enough for anyone.

    So...when do we start eating raw snakes?

  9. Troll headline? by zygotic+mitosis · · Score: 3, Informative

    Urine? Well, yes, but also the feces and the nasty water from industry. As someone has pointed out already, if your WTP collects from the river, you are already drinking treated sewage water.

    At our plant, we have a water reclamation facility at the end of our process, the same type of facility used at the water treatment plant upstream. A WRF is common, iirc, in CA, but is, afaik, the first of its kind here in MN. It is far more common to discharge without the additional filtering and contaminant removal provided by a WRF.

    The water we discharge is tested biweekly for ammonia and phosphorus and daily for total coliforms and biological oxygen demand. Ammonia and coliforms are non-detectable ~99% of the time. We are doing a very good job turning sewage into drinking water for the next town on the river.

    /lab intern at a WWTP

  10. Draining a Reservoir by CWCheese · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And in Portland, they drain an entire reservoir after one guy takes a leak
    http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/06/16/Reservoir-drained-due-to-urine/UPI-10781308249177/

    --
    Have a Day!
  11. They should ask South Africa for help by silentcoder · · Score: 4, Interesting

    South Africa, being a dry country, has been doing this for years. All sewage gets sent to treatment farms, where it is cleaned, and the water from it are then placed back in the river systems from where it is used for irrigation, drinking water and everything else - just like rain water.

    South Africa also boasts that the water from the treatment plants are cleaner than rain water. My father is an electrical engineer and helped design one of the plants (the electrical systems obviously). The process is quite spectacular - and moreso than what is described here. For starters the first phase includes the sewage being cleaned by specially cultured bacteria to break it down, before chemical cleaning, filtering etc. step by step turns it back into pure H20.
    The two main waste products from the process is methane and solid waste. The solid waste is used to create fertilizers. The methane is burned off (being a clean-burning gas) but quite a few people here have converted their cars to run on methane (any gasoline car can be converted) and fill up there - for the moment at least (since the demand is pretty low and they have massive amounts they need to get rid off) the sewage treatment farms don't even charge them. Fill up the car, no cost.

    --
    Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  12. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  13. This is nothing new by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 3, Informative

    Arizona has been doing this for a long time. For the most part, the water treatment is less intense and it is distributed through a separate, non-potable system to be used for irrigation. Makes sense since it is cheaper (requires less filtration). However some of it is filtered further, and mixed in with water from wells and the CAP to go in to the drinking water.

  14. BRAWNDO HAS WHAT PLANTS CRAVE by Thud457 · · Score: 2

    you mean water, like in the toilet?

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  15. Re:Bear Grylls by HarrySquatter · · Score: 2

    He is better known for the highly staged Man vs. Wild.

    FTFY.

  16. Far from first... by __aazsst3756 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Chanute, KS was the first in the US, from October 14th 1956 to March 14th, 1957. The water met microbial standards of the time, but was discontinued as soon as possible due to public acceptance.

    Windhoek, the capital of the Republic of Namibia (Sahara desert) recycles about 30% of their water to supply a population of 300,000 residents. They started in 1968.

    Not common, but far from a new idea.

  17. Re:Drinking wanter? by The+Grim+Reefer2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does it the water burn when it gets out the tap?

    Only if your faucet has Gonorrhea. ;-)

  18. Re:Drinking wanter? by McGuirk · · Score: 2

    Climate change? This shit's fairly normal. We get a drought like this every 20 years or so. Our summers always have long bursts of 110+ days. Likewise, most of the younger generation has little to no contact with Christianity, though many of them still maintain a facade around their families.