Sewage Tastes Good Like Water Should

Within 50 years, the U.S.'s demand for fresh water will greatly exceed its supply. Rather than wait for the great thirst, some politicians want to pipe water south from Canada's full rivers, much to the Canadians' displeasure. Others propose desalting ocean water, though the cost (about 20-c- per 1,000 gallons) is still high. Relatively speaking, by far the best bet is to recycle sewage water.

"The idea is repulsive to people who do not understand it," says one advocate of reclaimed water, Dr. Roger E. Kasperson of Clark University in Worcester, Mass. Even more repulsive is the fact that the drinking water in 144 of the 155 U.S. cities with a population of more than 25,000 now contains measurable traces of sewage effluents dumped upstream. Americans also squander vast quantities of fresh water to flush away small amounts of wastes. As a result, the nation's water is needlessly polluted at a prodigal rate.

It's Delicious. In a few arid countries like Israel and South West Africa, the people gladly drink reclaimed sewage water. When Prime Minister John Vorster of the Republic of South Africa sampled a glassful at Windhoek's treatment plant last year, he pronounced it "delicious." Americans are not yet so adaptable. President Nixon, offered a similar opportunity at the Hanover Park plant in Illinois, grimaced and said "No, thanks."

Few Americans knowingly drink recycled sewage water, but millions sooner or later imbibe the stuff, though unwittingly. In California, it flows into irrigation ditches from water-treatment plants in Pomona and San Mateo. Elsewhere, it is pumped into lakes for storage and recreation use, as in Santee and Alpine, Calif. In Washington, D.C., water reclaimed at the Blue Plains plant goes back into the seriously polluted Potomac River. In Nassau County, N.Y., it may be used to replenish underground reservoirs. Eventually, all this reclaimed water finds its way to the household tap. By then, its source has been well disguised, and like so much of the U.S.'s potable water, it is contaminated with pesticides.

Absolutely Pure. Unfortunately, most existing U.S. water-treatment plants have serious drawbacks. They either produce water loaded with organic nutrients that soon add to water-pollution problems, or else involve as many as three separate--and extremely expensive --stages of treatment. Sensing profit in this inefficiency, a handful of companies, including Calgon and the Linde Division of Union Carbide, have developed competitive systems. Two civil engineers at New York University, Alan H. Molof and Matthew M. Zuckerman, tested their method at a $69,962 pilot plant in New Rochelle, N.Y. They send sewage through an alkaline solution that breaks down large organic molecules. Then all the small molecules are adsorbed on activated carbon, a purifying material used in cigarette filters and gas masks. "Though the process needs to be perfected, it promises to be at least one-third cheaper than tertiary treatment," says Dr. Molof. "But its biggest advantage is that it produces absolutely clean water--not less-dirty water."

Most recently, a group of scientists from the Florida Institute of Technology built an $86,000 treatment plant at Fish-eating Creek in southern Florida. Radioactive cobalt irradiates the sewage without any danger of contamination.

Gamma rays kill all coliform bacteria in the water, which is then filtered and scrubbed clean of particles. The result is as clear, pure and tasteless as distilled water. Dr. David R. Woodbridge, a physicist and one of the method's inventors, says that the process can be used in medium-sized cities and would cost householders about $3.50 per month more than they are now paying for fresh water. If necessary, tasty additives could be introduced. Presumably, a dash of DDT and a cup of raw sewage would bring the clean water to present U.S. standards.

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