How the water you flush becomes the water you drink - Francis de los Reyes

Explore the science of wastewater treatment, and find out why water reuse has become increasingly common worldwide.
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In 2003, Singapore’s national water agency launched an unprecedented program to provide more than 50% of their nation’s water supply by recycling wastewater. The program had been planned for decades to ensure the island nation never ran out of clean water. But is it really safe to reuse anything we flush down the toilet? Francis de los Reyes explains the science of wastewater treatment.
Lesson by Francis de los Reyes, directed by JodyPrody, The Animation Workshop.
This video made possible in collaboration with Gates Ventures
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View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/how-the-wa...
Dig deeper with additional resources: ed.ted.com/lessons/how-the-wa...
Animator's website: jodyprody.com
Music: www.campstudio.co
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[@elSethro]

My understanding from someone close to me who works in wastewater treatment is that disinfection (killing pathogens - bacteria/viruses) is no problem and removing particulate matter. But removal of pharmaceutical chemicals that we excrete is still a major challenge.

[@logans3365]

Yup l, it’s not profitable to improve water treatment, so don’t expect anything other then the bare minimum under capitalism.

[@misterauctor7353]

Forever chemicals?

[@quanbrooklynkid7776]

Damn

[@azlan194]

Is evaporation and condensation too slow/expensive to make it feasible for water treatment?

[@moon_bandage]

​@@azlan194yeah that's incredibly energy intensive, you're basically describing desalination

[@aliciac3123]

can we just appreciate how ted ed posts amazing videos for us so consistently? thank you!

[@L17_8]

Jesus loves you ❤️ please turn to him and repent before it's too late. The end times described in the Bible are already happening in the world.

[@hmzirqhazard1950]

No

[@rodneyboehner3007]

Go drink some of my @$$ water, brah!!

[@AngelSGG]

Plz stop commenting that to every channel

[@Pauly421]

@@L17_8Go away weirdo.

[@zabuzafan100]

My husband has worked in wastewater treatment (reclamation) for over 25 years, and I have my operators license. It's surprising that people don't know that the water that they bath in, wash clothes in, and flush can and in some places does end up back in the tap. Called Toilet to Tap, it's a process of extreme filtering, biological, physical and and chemical treatment that makes water safe enough for reuse as drinking water. In places like Las Vegas, almost half of the water used in the valley is returned to wetlands and eventually flows to Lake Mead. The treated waste water is responsible for creating wildlife habitats that wouldn't normally have existed as well as combating the ever dropping levels of a lake that supplies water to much of the southwest.

[@Chill-Ice]

As a Singaporean, I see this as an absolute win

[@okaydoubleu]

In Singapore, this type of water has a name, NEWater! The residents were skeptical initially but we are generally fine with it now.

[@ghostderazgriz]

I imagine naming it NEWater only made the skepticism worse.

[@minerxen]

@@ghostderazgriz it sounds suspicious but it's been extremely thoroughly researched on how to filter it. Like Reverse osmosis, etc (I remember only learning this at like primary school many years ago)

[@kennyalale4904]

I'm sure it would take me a while to get used to literal 'Doo Doo water' too 😅

[@azlan194]

They are also making money from this since they are buying wastewater from Malaysia very cheaply and selling back the treated water at a very high price.

[@minerxen]

​@@kennyalale4904not just that, where do you think the water astronauts drink in space come from?

[@XwytreX]

Hi from Singapore! They actually mixed the NEWater with reservoir water because it is too clean and devoid of any minerals!

[@d0fabur5st82]

Saw this video title and didn't want to know that. But now I have to watch for an explanation to ease my concern. Outstanding move Ted-Ed

[@xxii_ix_xix_viii_xiv_xxi3889]

Simple and best explanation about wastewater treatment 😀

[@Echo81Rumple83]

We have a reverse osmosis filtration system for our drinking water at home since Sis and I were babies. Mom and Dad wanted to be sure we get the best, clean water that wouldn't harm us while growing up.

[@astroboirap]

what a dope

[@dragonpaws]

Too bad your parents weren't educated enough to understand that reverse osmosis water has no health benefits lmao

[@davea6314]

"Flush twice it's a long way to the kitchen." was something someone said when I was a young boy in up-state New York

[@freetousebyjtc]

Why is it a long way to the kitchen? English is not my first language so I don't think I understand this sentence

[@danielthecake8617]

I speak native english and I still don't understand

[@qamarat8366]

@@freetousebyjtc I think they're referring to how long of a journey waste water takes before it gets to your tap again (presumed to be the one in your kitchen).

[@Agent-ie3uv]

People in Singapore are very skeptical on drinking NeWater but when officials explained, the recycled water was stored first in reservoir everyone was wiling to drink 🚽 water

[@MohamadYoussef-jn7un]

Ted Ed keep answering these questions that we want to know but forget to search it! Thank you

[@ahmedfareed4921]

I love this channel because it provides short, simple & useful graphical topics

[@lizlin5633]

Just appreciate Ted Ed vids so much

[@user-yo7eq2ii9i]

Just appreciate Ted Ed vids so much. I'm surprised that more areas don't do this already.

[@mrboombastic_69420]

"Cloudy cocktail" 💀NAHHH

[@joshchristopher551]

Thank you for the answer that I keep questioning in my head but have never tried to look up

[@york1linny]

i love this channel so much, it's like gossiping but academically.

[@Proxicus]

I remember going to a water treatment plant; it has been over a decade and I have indeed read and watched documentaries about this issue. IT is really important to take climate change seriously and water filtration seriously. I covered this in a presentation in high school, but apparently, people didn't take climate change seriously in 2016. That's ridiculous!

[@trinathebookworm8977]

I'm surprised that more areas don't do this already

[@HelgaCavoli]

Love science and scientists. How far have come. ❤

[@differentvideos3419]

Your videos are crucial for listening and speking

[@houdannycomedymagic8642]

Amazing. This needs to become the new norm of the US and the world!

[@cuttingcoffee]

Thanks Ted Ed

[@dru1032]

As a water treatment specialist, I want to add that while it is certainly technically possible to treat sewage into potable water it is a highly expensive process. Reverse osmosis membranes are expensive and require regular maintenance and high energy use. If we were to entirely depend on these systems for our drinking water, a lot of communities around the world (even those connected to existing wastewater networks) wouldn't be able to afford all the clean water they need. We still depend heavily on the free services that natural systems offer us.

[@missbookbunny]

I genuinely wish I hadn’t learned this, but i will accept it

[@Rihtainshtain]

It's interesting. Thanks.

[@eddiesonnavarro8298]

Ted-ed always show us an amazing insight on what can humanity do for the better future of mankind, that we always hope for .

[@thebabyshpee6508]

Ted ed is incredible.

[@commerceeducare1399]

Really amazing

[@MathewSan_]

Great video 🔝👍

[@andyvan6301]

what a perfect video to watch while im eating

[@minhphapnguyen8286]

Video thật tuyệt vời, cảm ơn TED và tác giả

[@MuhammadSameerAliAnsari]

I always wanted to know this!

[@redfoxnutella3926]

Wow i learned a lot from this video

[@user-bp4nv3qp4d]

Very good, i like it

[@carltonleboss]

It is very interesting, indeed

[@anusham1753]

Can't imagine a world without having these treatment processes of wastewater😶

[@marhec69]

Interesting!

[@claymarzobestgoofy]

Awesome!

[@MuhammadSalarAyub]

you inspired me to make my own content like yours

[@user-oq5pt5iz8m]

this is a good video

[@darius2640]

some geniuses in my city decided to put the water treatment plant with 4 open top settling tanks just 3 kilometers from the medieval old town city center, peoples homes all around. luckily I dont live anywhere near there but I heard many complaints that every night they open up something and the horrendous smell comes out and covers the area not dispersing till the morning, I even experienced that when I drove past there with my car windows open one time

[@bluermias]

the title brought something to my attention that I never wanted to know and now Im scared to watch the video and think that they dont do enough to purify the water

[@TagsRant]

This video motivates me to keep drinking it

[@everythingrandom1381]

I've honestly always wondered why more forms of biological water filtration haven't been used...after all, nature is the best solution.

[@ralph7349]

That is what happens in the indirect potable reuse process

[@sapphyrus]

Nature uses sun which is free to vaporize the wastewater and carry it over to a clean water reservoir. Humans trying to do the same would have to use much more energy to treat it the same way. We have to be more efficient than nature since nothing we do is entirely free. It's, effort, materials, energy that cannot be provided by natural systems automatically.

[@modkip25]

not always

[@duckymomo7935]

Filter feeders take hours to clean up water and also they have to actually involve aqua culture farmers to raise bivalves

[@xotwod3254]

Nice

[@alparslankorkmaz2964]

nice video

[@Rocky-qc5mq]

yay Tito Francis!!

[@hgrace0]

This seems to me like the best solution for moving forward. We need to invest in the future and water is essential for life

[@SuratmoKrist]

Very inspiring theory

[@ES11777]

Theory? It’s a reality

[@HieuVu-nh6ot]

Intriguing

[@ARGWARUS]

Cool

[@Amitdas-gk2it]

Interesting

[@chiyutosan]

We drink water straight from tap in SG. Amazing!!

[@4.30gangCorpofficial]

Can we stop commenting on how the animations are great and look at how much you can actually learn from Ted Ed

[@markedis5902]

Living in the Thames Water area we know that we’ve drunk the water several times before

[@jayloncharles2018]

Knows that it’ll probably change the way I think about water for the rest of my life but chooses to watch anyway.

[@pocketfulofposies-]

hahah the twlight quote at the beginning caught me off guard, i was like "wait I've READ this somewhere!! i remember!"

[@TomTom_.]

Idk why I never thought we’re drinking the water we flush 😭

[@DaLing731]

Omg I’ve always wanted to google what happens to the water I flush but was always too lazy to do so

[@skadoodskadad316]

Neat

[@Snowman_44]

I've been wondering. Is water ever really wasted? Unless it's leaving the earth everyday, isn't water just going to be on earth because of water cycle? Evaporation, plant absorption etc. makes it seem like water isn't ever really wasted, just gone to a different place but will not leave earth. Am i wrong?

[@secondsein7749]

The wastage is in the energy and effort it require to get those water to useable condition and you end up not using it well. The same reasoning applies to food. If you don't your cooked food and just throw them away, it doesn't leave the Earth, but it is still considered as wasted.

[@yasminsultanu4614]

​@@secondsein77491000% agree with this, and don't forget we can say it is a 'wasted' if we remember a lot of people out there still suffer from poor access to clean&safe drinking water.

[@ghostderazgriz]

If we define waste by its ability to leave earth, technically, not even plastic waste is considered waste, so you can see why that definition does not work when defining the healthy use of waste and byproduct.

[@einsteinboricua]

Waste is defined as something that is misused or lost. Water can, indeed, be wasted. We think water is an infinite resource, and with water cover well over 75% of Earth's surface, it's easy to arrive at that conclusion. However, glaciers can disappear; rivers can run dry; lakes can evaporate; and groundwater can be used all up. So the supply is finite for some places. If water in these places is used to keep the lawn green or wash a driveway rather than for essential needs, then that's water wasted, because if water runs out, it's rationed or must be gathered elsewhere.

[@HIFLY01]

@@einsteinboricua if someone waters their grass or washes their car, its not wasted. Its used and put back into the environment, especially watering grass. Its being used and can still be collected later like car washes have drains or if you wash your car on a driveway you can let it evaporate. Might be wasted when comparing it to drinking but it's still being used and the water cycle will continue

[@bzuscience]

After proper filtration and removal of particles, we can safely use this water

[@etaokha4164]

Water is life

[@Clovis917]

Seriously!? woah!

[@LegoCookieDoggie]

And modern tests im assuming don't test for plastics or actually they do I just dont know if they are impossible to filter out like PfAs and BPA

[@balkaransandhu3376]

I think they should also develop technologies to use and reuse atmospheric water. That seems more of a solution for ever increasing population.

[@dollsgamescorner]

Yes as a signporean we been educated with that knowledge that newwater is safe water. But hey, new water is much cleaner than normal water

[@asankajayaweera7212]

A country like Singapore has to do such thing because the country doesn't have much natural resources. Thanks to its human resource however they overcame the challenge of water consumption.

[@Manowar458]

Woah

[@redeye117]

It be nice if we can channel water from our gutter during rains to be used like Gray water for our toilets and watering plants.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Here in the Philippines, those who have water treatment facilities are companies selling drinking water that are either distilled or mineral.

[@ernestoescobar1967]

Each droplet has their story i guess

[@hastsoul334neko]

singaporean here

[@zodiacfml]

Singapore is S.E.A where we get plenty of rain. Why not setup infrastructure to capture and store rain water, helps with flooding too?

[@reubenong8728]

Singapore is a city state. The size is not big enough to capture enough rainwater to meet the daily needs of 5.6 million people. In Singapore, we have 4 sources of drinking water (or known as taps), namely: water catchment area, imported, desalination and NEWater.

[@miteshghadi3146]

Why they cannot use sea water directly instead of waste water

[@reubenong8728]

@@miteshghadi3146 desalination is a far more energy intensive and less efficient since there are more salt in sea water than waste water. Additionally, there are adverse environmental impacts of desalination especially brine water being dumped back into the sea.

[@zodiacfml]

@@miteshghadi3146 sea water has more minerals or salts that is harder to remove than any other large and cheap source of water

[@henogtjikune7483]

Windhoek was the first city to do this 😊

[@coreysierchio4650]

When in doubt, dilution is the solution.

[@Phil-D83]

Ozone works well to disinfect water

[@xpndblhero5170]

This isn't as disturbing as knowing that all our water was once dinosaur pee..... 😂

[@FedJimSmith]

let me feel you disturb further: our body parts are once Dinosaur's

[@limerobloxgaming8567]

​@@FedJimSmithnot true whatsoever

[@FedJimSmith]

@@limerobloxgaming8567 probably is, dinasaurs , are cells are carbon based , and they are got rrcycled once they died

[@nguyennguyenthao9540]

sợ quá , uống vài cốc nước cho đỡ sợ

[@idkmyname12]

What's wrong with distilling water?

[@auro1986]

how? water in dumps,ponds, rivers,and seas evaporate to become clouds which then rains water

[@SpaceNebula69]

i hope there isn’t any broken things happening and it gives toilet water

[@JohnJohansen2]

0:43 Ask the astronauts and kosmonauts on ISS!

[@huykhang2461]

♥️

[@butlazgazempropan-butan11k87]

We have been dumping cleaned waste water into the rivers and then using the same water as tap water. This is nothing new

[@user-go6il2tm4b]

Wow i wondered how water that we use is provided to us. How to sort tab water and toilet water. It was just mixed and filtered and disinfected. Haha. But i tend to believe the power of technology

[@sherlock.holmes.]

Not gonnal lie, this motivates me to stop drink water

[@Crackkka]

Ratio

[@wabi6212]

Dehydration doesn’t seem so bad

[@Zhm6802]

There is no escape; they use this water in agriculture, and juice companies also use it.

[@ghostderazgriz]

why?

[@buKzone]

It DOESN'T matter...ALL the liquid in the world.The water molecules has been in sh1t at some point...you have to eat sand if you wan't to avoid it. And it is tough to even find sand where nobody has shat before

[@sanjanaraghunath2067]

my whole life was a lie?

[@joelkaben]

Unfortunately, yes.

[@sir_albaxious1909]

Unfortunately sir, yes.

[@nevergiveup5939]

Why are we here in this life, why do we die, what will happen to us after death?

[@dumb4219]

Yu are finised

[@mathsismyfavourite]

​@@nevergiveup5939read islam read quran you will have the answer

[@AnimealPlanet]

That's why my water has different flavours each time. 🥴

[@billie-J]

how bout microplastics found in water

[@aestheticbitch6509]

"THE WASTING OF FINITE RESOURCES IS EVERYONE'S BUSINESS." - Stephenie Meyer. Indeed.

[@SauloTejada]

And what about the use of graphene? Graphene only allows the pass of water through their structure. Could graphene filters be an option?

[@Electrobuzz17]

Late to the discussion but will share my thoughts. The production volume of graphene is so low its hardly being used except for demonstration purposes. Also graphene oxide filters have a tendency to destabilize when remaining in contact with water so there is risk involved. I dont thing we will see any large scale commercial applications of such filters in another decade still a lot of research needs to be done.

[@JamesWest_III]

How do they filter the chemicals we put down the drain? Bleach, toilet cleaner, drano, surface cleaners etc. doesn’t just disappear

[@danielthecake8617]

Filter it or make it change into something filterable.

[@Agent-ie3uv]

How about hospitals waste that go through sewers? That is more concerning than common household chemicals like bleach.

[@jaker3151]

Using drinkable water to flash the toilet seems like a waste. Especially when so many people in developing or poorer countries do not have access to clean water.

[@VaibhavShewale]

well we are drinking same water for centuries! its weird that most of us doesnt know

[@jamiegreenberg8476]

water goes through all this filtration yet the water in my college dorm room reaks of chlorine lol

[@kurtiskurt1]

Hello

[@scrappyabi]

So this is why my water tastes like chemicals? And the reservoir nearby dried out my skin and tasted horrible

[@samuelcid1726]

What happends with all the chemicals?