When you wash dishes, flush the toilet, or dump it in the sewers? The water has got to go somewhere it just can't vanish like that. Where do we get fresh,clean water? Don't tell me we re-use the dirty water and filter all that stuff out.That is totally gross because we use it for food, cleaning(health wise).Lol.
2006-09-28 11:44:03 · 8 answers · asked by AWorldThatNeedsToCalmDown 1 in Environment
Some good responses here.
All water that we have drunk in our life has been peed out by dinosaurs many, many times over. But before you get grossed out, think it has also been evaporated into clouds & fallen as rain many many times over as well since then.
Reclaimed water is used for many things in Europe & has been used even for laundry in Japan for decades, but NOT FOR DRINKING. There are traces of impurities ( common drugs & their breakdown products) that are difficult to remove in the treatment plant that so far make it undoable to clean treated effluent to the point of drinkability on a large scale.
So don't worry! Great question!
;-)
2006-09-28 14:16:56 · answer #1 · answered by WikiJo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The water from sinks, toilets, showers, sewers, etc. go to sewage treatment plants. They filter out the big junk (toilet paper, etc.), they treat the water (UV, chemicals, etc.) to reduce the amount of microorganisms in the water. After all this, it gets discharged into a nearby stream/river/ocean.
As a side note- even after all this treatment, the water is not pure... it usually still has a slight color to it and there are still microorganisms living in it.
As for your fresh water (drinking water, shower water, etc.) these usually come from reservoirs. Sometimes it comes from the ocean (with the salt removed), but that's not too common. Reservoirs are accumulated using underground springs and rain water. That's why you need to conserve water during a drought- the reservoirs are low because there hasn't been rain lately! They, obviously, treat this water, too (fluorine is one common chemical added).
2006-09-28 19:29:46 · answer #2 · answered by dpfw16 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In real life it goes into a waste water tratment plant that filters it, clarifies it, kills its germs, and the dumps it back diluted into some body of water. That might be the ocean or it might be a river that some other town is pumping water from to cleanup for their drinking water.
Where did you think the drinking water in your town came from?Very few places have glaciers or underground wells - most use cleaned surface water. In fact most of the companies that sell you bottled water get their water the same way!
2006-09-28 18:49:25 · answer #3 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sewers go to sewerage treatment plants, which remove most of the impurities. From there, it either gets discharged into rivers/oceans or, after further sanitization, back into the water supply.
Yummy.
2006-09-28 18:48:44 · answer #4 · answered by Kiwi Chicken 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No water from the reclamation plants going back to your house,period. I worked at the water reclamation facility during its construction. Recycled water usually used to supply water irregation systems, cool down power plants or for other industrial use. It's unsafe to drink that water and those who said it's going back to your house supply line just have no clue on the subject.
2006-09-28 18:59:22 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
it gets treated with a few chemicals, filtered, and dumped in a river for the next town to drink. some of the debris removed is actually recycled, composted, some places even use it as filler in construction.
2006-09-28 18:59:17 · answer #6 · answered by sathor 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it it cleaned in a plant and sent right back to your bathroom to flush those burritos down the toilet with, then you drink it again later.
Ewwww
2006-09-28 18:51:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes we do, afterall you are what you eat
2006-09-29 06:42:37 · answer #8 · answered by bprice215 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋