Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008 - (Page 10)

WASTEWATER Addressing a Crisis with Wastewater Recycling Getting more out of every gallon of water as growth, misuse and drought deplete fresh water supplies. By Rob Kundert Wastewater treatment plant in a subdivision. I t’s a cultural mind set in this country. People like their water plentiful and cheap. In a land that is rich in natural resources generally that has not been a problem in the past. However, if more isn’t done to conserve fresh water, there will be a major crisis in many more places within a very short time. Projections are that 36 states will face water shortages in the next five years and half of the world’s population will be in the same situation by mid century. As the population continues to increase, so does the demand for more fresh water while the supply dwindles. Drought, pollution and lack of conservation are at the root of the problem. In this country, the areas that will continue to experience the most population growth will be in the warmer, drier, southern-regions of the county, many of which are in the midst of an extended drought. Meanwhile, underground aquifers, surfacewater sources and mountain snow packs are showing signs that they will not be able to keep up with demand. Although people don’t necessarily care to use it after it is sent down a drain or flushed down a toilet, they will be forced to look at wastewater recycling and other alternative methods as part of the mix of conserva- Wastewater treatment plant during installation. Photo courtesy of AquaPoint. 10 May 2008 Sustainable Land Development Today tion efforts if they want to live where they chose. Innovative ways to clean and reuse wastewater have become common place in many parts of the world as well as some regions of this country; however, many areas continue to turn a blind eye to the problem or are not threatened by it because of the perception of plentiful supplies. Mike Millard, sales engineer for Southeast Pump & Equipment, Inc., based in Alpharetta, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, is a proponent of recycling wastewater from decentralized systems for irrigation and other nonpotable uses. Such systems have been put to work in some parts of this country and in many other places in the world. The regions in the U.S. that are experiencing the most explosive growth— from the Southeast to southwest and into southern California—are copying a pat- tern that Australia experienced a decade ago, according to Millard. The desirable areas to live didn’t have enough water, yet people kept moving in. They ended up rationing water and were forced to come up with ideas to conserve. The efforts paid off and now those regions of Australia are making do. “In the United States, people use around 150-200 gallons of water per capita per day. In Australia, they’re down to 30 or 40 gallons per capita per day,” he said. “Most of it had to do with education. People have to understand there is only so much water. Once you realize that, you put a higher value to it and you don’t waste it.” It’s being done “If you use reuse water to irrigate your lawn through a sub-surface, drippipe system or to flush your toilet, theoretically without making any other changes, you could cut your water consumption by up to 50-percent,” Millard said. The first key, he says, is to use less water. In Australia, they conserve by collecting stormwater, also known as rain harvesting. They have toilets that have one and two buttons, for liquid and solid waste, so they don’t use as much to flush. They have dual pipe systems inside their homes, one for potable water and one for the recycle wastewater. Black water from toilets goes into a septic tank and is filtered. An aerobic treatment unit cleans it so it can be put

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008

Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008 Contents Our Voice Editorial Board SLDT Resources Addressing a Crisis with Wastewater Recycling Visionary Award Finalists The Jonquil City - How a City Revitalized its Downtown Industry Spotlight: Enviroquip Solar Power System Design and Installation Stormwater: The Return of the Cistern Site Amenity: Fiber Optics Surveying and Mapping Wastewater: Low-Pressure System Special Feature: The Urban Canopy as Infrastructure Industry News Advertiser Index Products/Services Showcase Classifieds The Last Word: Nature Bats Last…

Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008

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