Water: Don't Lose It, Reuse It!
Michael Deane
Huffington Post
02/12/2010
It's hard for many to process the fact that although 70 percent of
the Earth's surface is covered by water, we can only access about one
percent as potable fresh water. As awareness of a potential water
scarcity grows, so does the global effort to reuse water traditionally
used for everyday functions like bathing, flushing, cooking and
cleaning. Purple pipe reuse programs are well underway that vastly
reduce demand on potable water by replacing it with treated wastewater
from commercial and residential locations everywhere, contributing to
an impressive reduction of wastewater discharge into bodies of water
and the subsequent environmental impact of pollutants.
Put another way, you wouldn't grab another clean glass out of
kitchen cabinet every time you wanted to take a sip of a cold beverage;
you would simply wash out that glass and use again thereby saving your
other glasses for another time.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than
2 billion gallons of water are reused in the United States every day,
and the volume is growing by approximately 15 percent annually. And the
most encouraging part is that this sustainable progress is being done
without any federal mandates -- we are taking our water future into our
own hands.
From flushing toilets to irrigating crops, landscaping local parks
to recharging groundwater aquifers, reclaimed or reused water is
becoming an increasingly popular option to fulfill any number of
important water uses. The proof is in places like Foxborough,
Massachusetts where the home of the New England Patriots, Gillette
Stadium, is saving 250,000 gallons of water during every major event
thanks to the double piping system, installed and managed by American
Water, which treats recycled wastewater from the facility as well as
from adjacent office complexes and stores.
Utilities Inc. is another prime example. The company is engaged in
projects to supply reused water for industrial cooling, watering local
golf courses and construction activities. In addition to providing
reused water for practical uses like car washes, Utilities Inc. has
also fitted several residential developments with reuse facilities for
irrigation needs.
And then there's United Water, which has partnered with the West
Basin Municipal Water District in California to operate and maintain
the largest water recycling operation of its kind in the country.
Following a 15-year partnership that has saved more than 100 billion
gallons of water, the ongoing agreement will save precious potable
water supplies in the drought-prone region in a number of ways,
including a reduction of wastewater discharged to the Santa Monica Bay.
In the coming months and years, the partnership aims to replace half of
the region's imported potable water with recycled water to ease the
demand for a scarce water supply from Northern California and the
Colorado River.
The technology exists for all of us -- not just large corporations
and utility companies -- to contribute to this future, and to promote a
more eco-friendly society simply by reusing our own water. Take
rainwater harvesting, for example. According to the EPA, rainwater
reuse provides an inexpensive supply of water that needs little
treatment for irrigation or non-potable indoor use, it reduces
stormwater runoff and pollution, not mention it lessens peak summer
demands. This age-old practice of collecting and reusing rainwater is
becoming more and more popular as people all over the country become
more aware of the cost and availability issues of water.
