As historic drought intensifies, we must reclaim water
climate crisis challenge our water supply in many ways, from deadly hurricanes to widespread and severe droughts. To address water scarcity, neighborhoods and communities must rethink the design of their wastewater systems.
Fall brought torrential rains to the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Ian killed more than 100 people in Florida, and Hurricane Fiona damaged 50% of transmission lines when it made landfall in Puerto Rico, leaving hundreds of thousands without power and water.
October, state officials Report The past three years have been the driest on record for California, and they show no signs of abating.
Meanwhile, drought in the Texas plateau severely disrupted the October cotton harvest, with farmers expected Give up 70% of your crop.
In British Columbia, more than 65,000 salmon already dead Until they can spawn in the Neekas River, the river is hostile to the Heiltsuk people of Bella Bella, an indigenous community that depends on fish for their livelihoods.
And on the other side of the continent, seven counties Despite recent rains, New York is currently in drought conditions.
In fact, researchers have Announce Climate change makes droughts 20 times more likely in Europe, Asia and North America. This probability is expected to increase dramatically as global temperatures continue to rise.
Clearly, water scarcity is an existential issue in much of the world, disrupting industries and livelihoods of millions. So what can we do?
While reducing water usage is a noble endeavor, communities can also respond to water scarcity by redesigning their wastewater systems. What you flush down the toilet can be recycled as drinking water.
The Omega Institute—a holistic retreat center in Rhinebeck, New York—provides an example of what a more symbiotic wastewater system might look like.center entrust The 250-acre campus has an impressive wastewater recycling system.
Dubbed the Eco Machine, the system filters and purifies 52,000 gallons of wastewater per day from 119 buildings and accommodates 23,000 guests per year.
Eco Machine uses no chemicals and energy, only algae, fungi, bacteria, plants and gravity.
Plants, soil, microbes and fungi help filter wastewater at the Omega Institute in New York. photo: Andrew Milford
As a teenager, I visited this facility – the first in the world to accept both Living Architecture Challenge and LEED Platinum Certification Certification – when it was launched in 2009.This system inspired me to think about how communities can transcend sustainability and strive for regeneration ecosystem.
Eco Machine is an example of regenerative design. In addition to maintaining a supply of usable water, the system replenishes groundwater while nourishing the growth of the entire ecosystem. And it all starts with flushing the toilet.
Waste water flows from toilets, sinks and showers into tanks where solid waste settles and the flow is balanced to handle surges in use.
Next, microbes in the Eco Machine gobble up the ammonia, phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium in the waste, removing them from the water.
The system includes four constructed wetlands, each about the size of a basketball court, lined with rubber and paved with gravel. Beautiful native plants grow tall on the gravel to digest harmful substances and remove foul odors from wastewater.
Water flows from the wetlands into the aerated lagoon and is fed to more plants, fungi, algae and snails, converting ammonia into nitrates and toxins into harmless elements. The water is then sent through a coarse sand filter where microbes digest the remaining nitrates.
Through this system, the water becomes clean and drinkable despite regulations prohibiting it, so the water is dispersed back into the groundwater below the campus, completing the cycle and allowing the process to begin again.
Traditional wastewater treatment systems rely on intensive energy and chemical use, often releasing treated wastewater (and often untreated wastewater) enters our waterways and ends up in the ocean.
However, the Eco Machine discharges the treated wastewater into the local aquifer where it can be drawn again for use in sinks and showers. This is called a closed hydrological cycle.
photo: Andrew Milford
Eco Machine uses a method called bionics – Design regenerative systems based on ecological processes – Solve human problems such as water scarcity. Communities can adopt this model to help them combat drought.
While an Omega Institute is much smaller in size and population than a town or city, communities can build their own versions of ecological machines on a larger scale. Such systems could ameliorate drought by restoring water to aquifers in parched communities. Reclaimed wastewater can also be used to irrigate fields and fill toilets.
More than 80% of the world’s wastewater is unsafe treatment. United Nations estimate 1.42 billion people live in areas of high or extreme water vulnerability, and about two-thirds of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity at least one month of the year.
Wastewater recycling systems are an expensive but necessary investment in dealing with water scarcity. Infrastructure can be funded by the government and managed at the municipal level.
For example, in California, the East Bay Municipal Utility District operates a water recovery system Save 5.5 billion gallons of water annually with the goal of turning wastewater into potable water for 83,000 homes.
The climate crisis poses an existential threat to abundant water resources everywhere, but a future without severe droughts is possible. All we need is the humility to learn from nature – and the political courage to turn our poop into drinking water!
Joshua Nordiff is a climate justice writer and graduate student Climate and Society Program in the Columbia Climate School.
