Daily Loaf

Judging by the comments at the end of this article in the Trib, everybody thinks it is a bad idea.

The article states the waste water that is evidently already dumped into rivers and bays would have to be treated to drinking-water standards before it could be put into the aquifer, which begs the question: Why not just use it for drinking water right after you treat it to be … drinking water?

Uh-huh, that is what I thought, because I am betting it isn’t truly drinkable at that point, but if any of you scientists or politicians want to prove me wrong then show up with a gallon of freshly treated shit and be my guest as you gulp it down.

When Tampa Bay Water proposed a similarly crappy idea earlier this year it ruffled many feathers. They called it “downstream augmentation,” which meant dumping sewer water into the river downstream in return for taking clean water upstream. My more environmentally savvy friends explained to me that there are certain things they can never filter out of wastewater, such as certain chemicals in medicines that land there after they have gone through us. Looks like TBW is still floating that idea. You can contact them here to let them know your thoughts.

Now Swiftmud is doing a study on dumping it in the aquifer, which should be done in March, according to the article (I wonder how much that study will cost?). I think most people would be happy to tell Swiftmud that dumping shit into our aquifer is a bad idea and we would tell them that at no charge!

Whether they call it “effluent” or reclaimed water, it is still wastewater, and whether they call it downstream augmentation or aquifer recharge, in layman’s terms it is still dumping shit into an otherwise clean water source. They should call it what it is!

(photo credit: Stuck in Customs/flickr.com)

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