Why People Hate Water Reuse (and How to Overcome It)

Why People Hate Water Reuse (and How to Overcome It) - 3 Proven Paths

Рет қаралды 1,723

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 52

@Tenajeh 7 ай бұрын

Here is the thing: I have been CONVINCED for most of my 40+ years of life that our tapwater system was already a circulation with very good cleansing technology. It was just last year that I learned that wastewater plants only filter the worst sludge out and pump the grey water into rivers, while our fresh tapwater is still pumped out from ground water. So, if now anyone came to me and announced that they actually want to make a circulation system, I would be all for it, under the requirement that the refineries are not private corporations. Otherwise, I would have to assume that the company switches to cheaper and less effective forms of treatment to maximize their profit.

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

See, that's a great example of the silo-mind we have, we the water professionals! I discovered last year, when reuse made the news in France as there was a government initiative to 10x the volume we reuse, that the IMMENSE majority of people thought exactly like you did! The blame clearly goes on our sector: we're not explaining well enough what a water treatment plant does, what a wastewater treatment plant does, and what a water reuse factory might do in the future. I'd be curious: what made you discover last year that our municipal water cycle wasn't closed? Then, on your privatization concern: the way it's usually done is one of the two following. Whether a municipal plant built on public investment money, or a private plant built on private money but on a public contract (Private-Public Partnership). In both cases... they will want to be very lean with finances, as our sector is generally way underfunded 😅 But the decisive thing is, that thanks to regulation, tap water is one of the most controlled goods in our food chain (as is treated wastewater by the way) - way more than bottled water for instance. Plus it's a small World where a health-scandal is kind of a death kiss for a water company, so no one would risk doing something stupid. In a nutshell, you will never see a "Nestlé" or "Dasani" water reclamation plant, but if not fully municipal, you'd probably see a "Veolia" or "Acciona" plant on a public contract.

@anomonyous 7 ай бұрын

Yikes. That's not exactly optimal. I hope this stuff becomes more widespread as quickly as possible.

@chandralata 7 ай бұрын

Just sent Antoine a clip of wastewater being treated to safe for human consumption level and actually a client of mine is using my technology for 15months now treating successfully 50.000gallons/24hours to safe for human consumption level so if that is possible why not spread it ...we are running out of fresh or potable waters

@MichaelRada-INDUSTRY50 7 ай бұрын

Dear Antoine, just an idea, what about using the SPACE WATER, because of space station technology reuse 98% of water and humidity

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

That sounds like a good idea! My reservation with that, is that "SPACE WATER" is awesome, but costs 20'000 $ per liter. I fear it hence comes with some strings attached 😅

@ulrichbrodowsky5016 7 ай бұрын

For me C is the best argumen. (I'm 50 seconds into the video, so I might still change my mind)

@_xiha_ 7 ай бұрын

As a Singaporean drinking reused water is so normalised that no one even talks about it. It’s so clean that it’s even used in the biomedical and wafer manufacturing industries.

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

Singapore is a perfect example of how to do it, and also a slight overkill, as water is in the end treated twice (at the reclaimed water treatment plant and then again in the potable water plants). But the idea of putting reservoirs "in the middle" of the reuse route is actually absolutely brilliant, from an adoption point of view, on top of all the great marketing efforts your country has put in place!

@anomonyous 7 ай бұрын

That's the thing, right. I learned how the water systems work where I live, as a young child. So, to me, it's very normal. And it's absolutely fine. Although, I still prefer to use a Brita filter. Don't judge, I like the taste. xD.

@lea-ph8do 7 ай бұрын

i don't think comparing singapore to australia is a good way to see how policies get pushed through because singapore isn't really the best example of a democracy

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

That's a valid point! And it might be a valid question as well: why is the adoption of reuse easier in Singapore, Philippines or Namibia, and so cumbersome in the US or Australia? (Reuse is also well-adopted in Israel, it's maybe not the best time in history to discuss how great of a democracy the country is, though) Now, I'm not fully comparing Australia to Singapore either, I'm specifically looking at their approaches in introducing and "marketing" reuse. But again, I agree, your point is very valid.

@MichaelRada-INDUSTRY50 7 ай бұрын

I am sure some will be in loooong queue

@chandralata 8 ай бұрын

Antoine what if the reuse of water is treated by ...email address if l can be allowed to share with you the info l have

@AntoineWalterDWW 8 ай бұрын

That sounds very mysterious! Send me your secrets: antoine@dww.show

@PossumMedic 7 ай бұрын

@@AntoineWalterDWW 🤣🤣🤣

@chandralata 7 ай бұрын

@@AntoineWalterDWW see your email

@anomonyous 7 ай бұрын

All of those arguments are perfectly fine. But anyone who grew up where I live in West-EU, and has drunk tap water at some point in their lives, have drunk reused water. If course, all water is ancient and reused. We just make sure we can safely drink it. It's normal. Maybe tell them how soil, feed, plants and animals work and how it ends up on our plate? I don't know why anyone would hate something that's just a thing. I mean... it just exists. There's nothing to hate. Rainwater purification, spring water, bottled water, purification installations, etc. As I've said, astronauts are perfectly fine. And they recycle every drop to the extreme on the ISS. It's a fascinating and fairly elaborate process, as well. Yet simple enough to grasp and explain. We can even use things like reverse osmosis. Frankly, the idea that I'm drinking Dinosaur product sounds a lot more appealing than microplastics and estrogen.

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

Look, I agree with everything you say. The problem is: reuse, as for everything that's "pee" or "poo" is tainted. To quote one of my former podcast guests, Aaron Tartakovsky, who runs an on-site water reuse start-up to address the local regulations in some US Cities, "one of the occupational hazards of working in wastewater is that we all basically devolve into our inner middle-schooler. We start making jokes and puns about the nature of this work." This was very blatant when wastewater-based epidemiology made the news during CoVid times. Anchormen couldn't help but joke about the topic. Even the coverage of the ISS's reuse is quite always the same (I'm guilty of using the joke myself): You'll drink the same coffee 3 weeks in a row. That collides strongly with the bottled water narrative (you know, that "pure and wholesome water" which turns you into a baby, or helps your diet), and as one industry is much better in marketing than the other, it results in the kind or rejection San Diego, Toowoomba or Berlin have faced when proposing water reuse schemes.

@Frogthroat1 7 ай бұрын

For me, mostly A. Water is water. If it's purified, my body won't know the difference. C would be a good reason why I should care. And B would be a cool bonus thought with the triceratops. When I was young I got myself a bottle of fine spirit. 98% alcohol. I was amused by the label: made from fresh apples. Even as a young man I was amused because at that distillation it doesn't matter if they distilled freshly picked apples made into mash or sewer waste fermented with human excrement. Your body cannot detect the origin of a molecule.

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for bringing up that alcohol image I won't ever be able to forget 🤣

@anomonyous 7 ай бұрын

Earth is a closed system, in regards to water. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.

@grantlauzon5237 5 ай бұрын

A, but I am not normal. Sodium chloride is salt and it doesn't matter if it's labeled as sea salt or not. Feed me the GMOs and give me (small amounts of) fluoride to drink for I have no fear.

@AntoineWalterDWW 5 ай бұрын

Then, you’ll also be my perfect customer for this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iX_Qapl6dqaIsM0si=f95W_jOYTGKEr2u9 Now in all seriousness, I am like you, yet I have to remind myself regularly that humans are no rational beings. And so many people don’t believe in science… 😅 (like it’s a belief to start with 🙄)

@StevenMyers0071 7 ай бұрын

Great video! I like advanced purified!

@ninjasheep7492 7 ай бұрын

I like argument A. Ultimately water is water and with our technology why should it matter where the pure water came from.

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

I would personally agree with you. Now, overall, I fear things may unfortunately not be that straight forward (and I would at least partially "blame" it on bottle water's marketing)

@anomonyous 7 ай бұрын

I just had an interesting thought. See, a lot of people struggle with hard water. The calcium buildup can damage implements, clog up piping and such and even affect how your food and drinks taste, if you don't filter that out. There's a famous brand of English tea that made a special hardwater version, just for this reason. (Yorkshire.) I don't think you would have this issue with mostly reused water. If we do it to a lesser degree, it would still help somewhat. But if we were to manage a 98% filtration and reuse system, then that would solve a myriad of other issues as well. Like varying water qualities, and dumping of questionable waste water. All in all, very very interesting video. You've got yourself a sub for sure.

@anomonyous 7 ай бұрын

How about: Astronauts are perfectly fine.

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

... not that I'd like to do a shameless plug for the sake of doing a shameless plug, but that was the hook of my TEDx on that topic. 🙂 You are absolutely right: if we're able to strive on a 98% reuse rate on the ISS, we can certainly sustain a 10% reuse rate on earth!

@anomonyous 7 ай бұрын

@@AntoineWalterDWWHahaa! Great minds think alike, I'll have to check out your shameless plug :p.

@gothafloxacin 7 ай бұрын

Are you french?

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

Sorry, nobody’s perfect 😅

@fishthativeknown 7 ай бұрын

I have some concerns. You are treating the subject with the assumption that opposition is wrong-headed and to be overcome instead of understood. Legitimate concerns of persistent psychoactive phamaceuticals (anti-depressants. etc.) having increasing concentrations in reused water water over time shouldn't be overcome with media, propoganda, narrative control, and choice words. Perhaps we could focus on listening to opposition and find treatment options that actually acknowledge the real and fair concerns of opposition so that instead of winning a war against them, we end up on the same side. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the TED Talk, it's a good one you got there! Actually, endocrine disruptors, pharmaceutical residues, and micropollutants, in general, wouldn't flow through a Reverse Osmosis membrane. The reason why we don't eliminate them from all wastewaters is exactly that we don't reuse: if it's "only" to not pollute a river, why bother removing those compounds? Oh fish are changing gender, are we supposed to care? The only exception to that rule is Switzerland and, to a certain extent, Germany, the Netherlands (for hospitals) and Sweden (in very select exceptions). So indeed, direct potable reuse or any sort of reuse that would involve RO (or, as a matter of fact, advanced oxidation, activated carbon or a combination of all the above) would incentivize us to finally address that endocrine disruptor and pharmaceutical residues topic. Now, you make another valid point: it's not about fighting the wrong-headed. It's about ensuring that we debate in box 2 and 4, arguments to arguments, with science as the final judge. And not box 1 ("Poowoomba and drink your shit") against box 3 ("Any human that's against reuse is by definition stupid") So, that's in essence my point. Sorry if it comes across as "hey the wrong, you're wrong, go burn in hell" - that's not my intention, and never will. (but I will find you, I will hear you, I will discuss with you, and I'll convince you 😉)

@fishthativeknown 7 ай бұрын

@@AntoineWalterDWW I love your approach. I am a veteran of building water and wastewater treatment facilities for 30 years. I know we need more resources, and I know there is no limits imposed on how creative we can be in making outputs brand new inputs. Life itself is iteration combined with intelligent purposes. I appreciate your effort sir. Be well. You have a great energy for making these points.

@AntoineWalterDWW 7 ай бұрын

I believe we can educate people regardless of where they're starting from! Two years ago, I took my daughter to our village's wastewater treatment plant for the first time. My wife wasn't very happy with that because, come on, that must be utterly boring for a small child. She had the time of her life, finally understanding what was happening beyond the flush! A lot of the preconceptions are ignorance, and we can do much about it by just showing and explaining things as they are. Don't you think so?