Sludge Watch ==> North Carolina - From toilet to tap?

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

It isn't just whether you want to be drinking water thats been through the 
sewers that is at issue....

The underlying questions is ...Why are we using precious potable groundwater 
and treated freshwater to to run industrial liquid waste and domestic wastes 
through sewer pipes in the first place?

......................................................................
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20071108/NEWS/711080376


>From toilet to tap?

By Gareth McGrath
Staff Writer
gareth.mcgrath at starnewsonline.com



Could Wilmington residents one day be drinking water that's already been 
through their showers, dishwashers and even toilets?

Maybe, but not anytime soon.

The idea is one possibility as the Port City and other North Carolina 
communities look to stretch water supplies stressed in the short term by 
drought and in the long term by projected growth patterns.

That has some officials preaching that real answers to the state's water 
crisis might require as much a change in perception as a shift in how North 
Carolina uses its water.

"In the past, water has been abundant and cheap in North Carolina," said 
Bill Holman, a visiting scholar at Duke University and former head of the 
N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. "There's been plenty 
to go around, so we haven't had to be very creative or very efficient."

But he said the current drought, which has seen water supplies of some 
communities in the Triangle and Triad drop below 100 days, is forcing a 
rethink of how the state is going to deal with its long-term water needs as 
North Carolina's population jumps from 9 million to a projected 12 million 
by 2025.

"We don't have enough water to sustain that kind of growth unless we use our 
water resources more efficiently," Holman said.

And the best way to "grow" local water supplies might be to reuse the water 
that's already in the system.

Not a new idea

Wilmington is already recycling wastewater that's created during the initial 
processing of raw water drawn from the Cape Fear River.

Standing on a metal catwalk above one of the giant outdoor clarifiers that 
separates sediment and other material from the water, Sweeney Treatment 
Plant superintendent Mike Richardson said in the old days the partially 
treated water would be skimmed off and discharged into the nearby Northeast 
Cape Fear River.

The crud that settled to the bottom would be collected and transported to 
the city's Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant.

But in the wake of the state's 2002 drought, city officials wondered what 
they could do better to conserve water.

After spending roughly $500,000 on new equipment, the city now pumps up to 1 
million gallons per day of partially treated water back into the line that's 
pumping raw water into the treatment plant. The average daily use in 
Wilmington is about 17.5 million gallons.

"That's $210 every day that I'm not having to pay for raw water," Richardson 
said. "We're just recycling what's already here, so we're saving money and 
water."

Some utility systems also are recycling water on the other end of the 
treatment process.

Since 2001, Cary has been using treated wastewater from its sewer plant for 
non-domestic uses, including irrigation and cooling systems for industry.

Town Utilities Director Ron Bonne said that during peak periods the reused 
water, which is pumped through a separate set of pipes from the town's 
drinking water, meets about 10 percent of the town's water needs.

He said recycling wastewater not only helps stretch the fast-growing town's 
water supply, which happens to be Jordan Lake, the headwaters of the Cape 
Fear River, but also is significantly cheaper for homeowners than regular 
drinking water and allows them to keep watering their lawns, even during 
mandatory restrictions.

"It really makes a neighborhood drought-proof," Bonne said.

Wilmington one day could take that reuse one step further.

More recycling on tap

Although the proposal is still in its infancy, Richardson said the city 
could eventually pump up to a quarter of its treated discharge from the 
city's wastewater treatment plant back into the water treatment plant, where 
it would be "blended" with the raw water coming out of the river.

The move would require a change in state regulations and completion of 
filtration system upgrades to the Northside plant, to ensure the water is 
safe for human consumption and contact, slated for next year.

But there might be an even bigger hurdle - public perception.

In probably the most famous case, San Diego residents a decade ago revolted 
when city engineers proposed pumping treated wastewater into reservoirs used 
to supply the city with drinking water. The proposal was dubbed "toilet to 
tap" by detractors.

But Richardson said that's already happening to some degree today.

He said that earlier this year during some of the lowest flow days along the 
Cape Fear, the water Wilmington was drawing into its intake above Lock and 
Dam No. 1 in Bladen County showed high fluoride levels.

"The only way we're going to see something like that is from effluent 
released from treatment facilities upstream from us," Richardson said.

Wayne Munden with the state's Public Water Supply Section agrees.

"It would be an understatement to say that a portion of the water in the 
Cape Fear isn't wastewater effluent," he said, ticking off the water systems 
above Wilmington that rely on the river for water.

But Munden added that regulators require 5 miles between a drinking-water 
intake and a sewage plant discharge to help dilute any nasty stuff that 
might be in the effluent that's being released.

While reusing wastewater discharge for domestic uses holds some promise, he 
cautioned that officials would likely proceed very slowly because there 
could be some lingering health problems that would have to be dealt with to 
make it safe for human consumption.

Some reuse discouraged

But one measure the state is actively discouraging is the reuse of domestic 
water, collectively known as gray water.

Barbara Hartley Grimes, nonpoint source pollution program coordinator with 
the Division of Environmental Health, said water that's been in contact with 
people or soaps can't be reused in gardens or lawns unless it's been 
treated.

"That is considered sewage by law," she said. "You are throwing slop out the 
door."

Grimes said the water from bathtubs, dishwashers or laundry machines can 
contain infectious pathogens and even remnants of pharmaceutical products 
that can be harmful to humans or animals, sometimes after just a small 
exposure.

But Sally Mason, who occasionally uses rinse water from washing the dishes 
on her plants, said she was surprised to hear that.

The Myrtle Grove resident, who is on a well, said reusing the water also 
makes her feel she's doing her little part to help stretch the area's water 
supply.

"I just can't watch the water go down the drain, particularly during a 
drought," Mason said.