RAOVQ
2008-08-06, 12:13
I just had a very interesting lecture from the head of one the water companies research divisions, and it makes me hate the small minded fucking idiots that populate this country.
As with many countries, australia has big problems with it's water supply. There is either not enough of it, or it's in the wrong place. Since most governments ignore any kind of planning for the future, the water people are scrambling to make sure we don't all die of dehydration in the next decade.
The govt has placed a law (or whatever) in act, which dictates that over 20% of our waste water needs to be recycled. The obvious solution is to re-process grey and black water. This is water that has been used for domestic purposes. Most people here don't like this idea. With their heads so far up their arses, they think that once water has been in a toilet or a shower it is forever contaminated and needs to be sealed underground like spent radioactive fuel rods. The idea that the same water has (more or less) being floating around for millions of years doesn't really occur to them, nor the reality that if we can remove salt from seawater, we can remove dirt from waste water.
But people are fucking morons, and without any thought they dismiss the idea of recycling this water. They have some retarded idea that the toilet is going to be hooked up to the sink, and refuse to do any critical thinking or research.
We have this law in place though, 20% needs to be recycled. It would be political suicide to just reprocess the water, so they have come up with a system:
At the moment, water is process at sewage plants as a matter of routine. It is cleaned and made safe, but not safe enough to drink. Its pumped out to sea or whatever.
The new idea is to further this process, and make the water cleaner. Remove salts and any extra dissolved organic material that happens to be around. It is then pumped underground, into the groundwater supply. Note, this water is already cleaner than the groundwater.
We get about 20% of our water from the water table. The water is pumped in, and then travels along to a pump, and is pumped out. The water spends decades in the water table before it is pumped out again due to the distance it has to travel.
This pumped out water, now more dirty from being in the ground for so many years is then cleaned using current methods.
This pisses me off. People are fine with the idea of drinking water that has travelled through an aquifer, but won't touch it if the water is recycled instantly.
How much money is being wasted to keep the small minded idiots happy? gigalitres of water is being pumped in and out of the ground to give the impression that it's safe to drink.
Also, it is placating the population. The water we are pumping into the ground is CLEANER than what we are pumping out. there are less dissolved impurities, and all pathogens have been removed. This is essentially saying "we can't clean the water as well as nature, your right to not want to directly recycle this".
Fucking people.
As with many countries, australia has big problems with it's water supply. There is either not enough of it, or it's in the wrong place. Since most governments ignore any kind of planning for the future, the water people are scrambling to make sure we don't all die of dehydration in the next decade.
The govt has placed a law (or whatever) in act, which dictates that over 20% of our waste water needs to be recycled. The obvious solution is to re-process grey and black water. This is water that has been used for domestic purposes. Most people here don't like this idea. With their heads so far up their arses, they think that once water has been in a toilet or a shower it is forever contaminated and needs to be sealed underground like spent radioactive fuel rods. The idea that the same water has (more or less) being floating around for millions of years doesn't really occur to them, nor the reality that if we can remove salt from seawater, we can remove dirt from waste water.
But people are fucking morons, and without any thought they dismiss the idea of recycling this water. They have some retarded idea that the toilet is going to be hooked up to the sink, and refuse to do any critical thinking or research.
We have this law in place though, 20% needs to be recycled. It would be political suicide to just reprocess the water, so they have come up with a system:
At the moment, water is process at sewage plants as a matter of routine. It is cleaned and made safe, but not safe enough to drink. Its pumped out to sea or whatever.
The new idea is to further this process, and make the water cleaner. Remove salts and any extra dissolved organic material that happens to be around. It is then pumped underground, into the groundwater supply. Note, this water is already cleaner than the groundwater.
We get about 20% of our water from the water table. The water is pumped in, and then travels along to a pump, and is pumped out. The water spends decades in the water table before it is pumped out again due to the distance it has to travel.
This pumped out water, now more dirty from being in the ground for so many years is then cleaned using current methods.
This pisses me off. People are fine with the idea of drinking water that has travelled through an aquifer, but won't touch it if the water is recycled instantly.
How much money is being wasted to keep the small minded idiots happy? gigalitres of water is being pumped in and out of the ground to give the impression that it's safe to drink.
Also, it is placating the population. The water we are pumping into the ground is CLEANER than what we are pumping out. there are less dissolved impurities, and all pathogens have been removed. This is essentially saying "we can't clean the water as well as nature, your right to not want to directly recycle this".
Fucking people.