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| Singapore bottles processed waste water | | |
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Sponsor |  chronophasiac | Oct 22, 2004 3:01pm | | I fail to see how this is bizarre in the least. The water we drink every day comes from reservoirs which local wildlife eats in, shits in, and dies in. The only significant difference that I can discern is that NEWater is treated far more thoroughly than most reservoir water. |
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Sponsor | | arg | Oct 22, 2004 4:06pm | | Water is constantly recycled from everywhere, but that's not the bizarre part. I find it odd that they just filter the waste water and sell it without any kind of additional treatment (i.e., boiling, chemicals, etc.) which is not mentioned in the (admittedly skimpy) artcle. I know their method is extremely thorough, and the water may very well be the best anyone has ever had, but (I think) it's still at the very least a psychological snafu. Perhaps it wouldn't come across that way if the waste water was evaporated (like in the natural water cycle), captured, treated, then filtered.. but most people don't really think about where their water comes from anyway. |
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Sponsor | | chronophasiac | Oct 22, 2004 6:28pm | "NEWater is the product from a multiple barrier water reclamation process. The first barrier is the conventional wastewater treatment process whereby the used water is treated to globally recognised standards in the Water Reclamation Plants.
The second barrier is the first stage of the NEWater production process known as Microfiltration (MF). In this process, the treated used water is passed through membranes to filter out and retained on the membrane surface suspended solids, colloidal particles, disease-causing bacteria, some viruses and protozoan cysts. The filtered water that goes through the membrane contains only dissolved salts and organic molecules.
The third barrier or the second stage of the NEWater production process is known as Reverse Osmosis (RO). In RO, a semi-permeable membrane is used. The semi-permeable membrane has very small pores which only allow very small molecules like water molecules to pass through. Consequently, undesirable contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, nitrate, chloride, sulphate, disinfection by-products, aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides etc, cannot pass through the membrane. Hence, NEWater is RO water and is free from viruses and bacteria and contains very low levels of salts and organic matters.
At this stage, the water is already of a high grade water quality. The fourth barrier or third stage of the NEWater production process really acts as a further safety back-up to the RO. In this stage, ultraviolet or UV disinfection is used to ensure that all organisms are inactivated and the purity of the product water guaranteed.
With the addition of some alkaline chemicals to restore the acid-alkali or pH balance, the NEWater is now ready to be piped off to its wide range of applications."
The first and last stages both involve the use of chemical agents. I agree that it may be offputting to some people, but they'd better get used to this sort of unnatural recycling because as population density goes up we'll see more and more of this in major cities. |
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Sponsor | | arg | Oct 23, 2004 7:48am | | Thank you for the excellent insight. When it's explained in that detail there is no question about the quality of the water and it certainly ceases to be bizarre. You're most definitely correct. |
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Sponsor | | Conradaroma | Oct 23, 2004 1:15pm | | haha, file this one under non-bizarre then! :) |
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| Singapore bottles processed waste water | | |
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