Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown has a plan to combat climate change, and to help the State of California absorb an extra 10 million residents: Implement space ship like closed system recycling of waste water, such as urine, to allow the water to be recycled repeatedly.
According to Brown;
“We are altering this planet with this incredible power of science, technology and economic advance,” Brown said. “You have to find a more elegant way of relating to material things. You have to use them with greater sensitivity and sophistication.”
Brown said that, as California struggles to meet a mandatory 25 percent reduction in urban water use, technology would provide long-term solutions, including capturing stormwater runoff and recycling water numerous times.
“The metaphor is spaceship Earth,” Brown said. “In a spaceship you reuse everything. Well, we’re in space and we have to find a way to reuse, and with enough science and enough funding we’ll get it done.”
Jerry Brown might be happy preparing for his trip back to his home planet, but here on Earth, most of us prefer to drink water from reservoirs, rather than piping it in from the local sanitation plant.
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He can have mine, provided he doesn’t want to drink it straight from the tap (faucet)
Marie Antonetta Brown: “Let them eat feces and urine..the peasants.. that is.”
What source of energy is used to recycle this waste? The answer to this question will predict whether or not it is economically feasible. I don’t mind the concept. it’s still water, regardless.
“technology would provide long-term solutions, including capturing stormwater runoff and recycling water numerous times.”
How about rebuilding the 350 California dams Green pressure has had destroyed?
In most of southern England, where I live, the water supply comes mainly from the Thames and other rivers. Treated water from the sewage system is recycled into the rivers, so it is very likely that some of the water I drink has been through someone else already, and it doesn’t bother me, any more than the fact that the air I breathe has been breathed many times by other organisms.
True. But Ma Nature’s bacteria and fungi were doing a bit of additional natural water purification work in the meantime. Its all a matter of concentration/time. I doubt even California could afford the ISS concentrated recycling systems. But would not be surprised if Moonbeam tried.
Do you live downstream from a wastewater treatment plant and get your water from the river, it’s recycled. Same for getting your water from a lake where water is discharged. Even groundwater is highly filtered recycled water. Modern wastewater treatment plants and water purification plants can produce water that is purer than those pictured pristine lakes which are pooped and peed in by all sorts of critters.
Unless you get your water directly from combination of hydrogen and oxygen I’d suggest that you get very little water that is not recycled.
Have you ever heard of rain?
Actually rain water can be polluted. Just like some bottled water. It depends on the air quality. All rain water is drinkable, but it might make you sick. Runoff from roofs can be highly contaminated from the dust that settles during dry periods. When we hike, we carry filtration and purification tablets. I’d treat drinking rain water the same way, but rain barrels are great for watering plants.
I think just about everyone in California should drink urine. (apologies to those like AW who really just need to get the heck out of there)
Hey, we’ve got plenty of fresh water over here in Texas, so we’ll be more than happy to bottle up our urine and send it to all y’all!!!
P*** on him. The problem is that it will make very little difference. The big problem is the underpricing of agricultural water and the continuation of cannabis prohibition. And of course the dam n dam problem.
You apparently forgot that it was the agricultural community that paid for the transport of Colorado River water into California, not the cities that grew up because of the availability of the water. If you pay for the project, I think you have a right to expect to benefit from it. In the case of water, it isn’t agriculture that is the leech, its all those people that think agriculture gets the breaks that are.
OK. They paid for the canals. None the less – underpricing the water makes for excessive use. If supply and demand determined price things would be closer to balance.
If you charge farmers more for water, food will get more expensive.
You pay either way.
How about a permanent ban on lawns in a desert?
It would appear the governor hasn’t gotten the message that spaceship Earth already recycles the water to start with. We aren’t losing water, unless all those accounts of alien flying saucers hanging over bodies of water and beaming water aboard are true.
Also, when you take the outflow from the waste treatment plant and pump it into the ground as water recharge for the aquifers, the same rocks filter it again and make it nice to drink yet again. No matter what the governor does, he is not going to find water for another 10 million Californians unless he is going to wake up, build reservoirs, and maybe, just maybe, stop the sales of California’s water out of state via bottled water plants. Sometimes, profitable industries aren’t really profitable for the state, not when the state has to spend tens of billions of dollars finding ways to make high priced water available to the average citizen, so that the rich owner of a bottled water plant can continue to make billions for him or herself.
You mean “V” wasn’t just science fiction?
They don’t call him “Moonbeam” for nothin’….
Here’s a possible solution for Guv Brown (the color of u-no-wot). During 1970, I worked in Korea and while on a road trip, had to use a men’s room at a rest stop. In front of each urinal there was a milk can into which one was supposed to urinate. I inquired and found that the government decided to build a urokase industry and needed feed stock. Requiring everyone to urinate into the milk cans was a way to do it. The cans were emptied each night and shipped to a urokase factory
So here is what Guv Brown (the color of u-no-wot) needs to do. Ask congress to pass legislation to put milk cans in front of all highway urinals in the continental USA so it can be shipped to California to solve his water problems. Pretty soon, his problems will be solved. And ofcourse, the highly-taxed residents of California can foot the bill.
Typical Green Blob stuff.
There are almost 40 million people in California, let’s say they each produce two litres (~four pints) of urine per day, that’s 80,000 tonnes of urine per day.
According to official statistics, the good people of Los Angeles use a little under 0.4 tonnes (400 litres) of water per day, so that means Moonbeam’s plan will save -if 100% effective!!! – the amount of water used by 200,000 people, or 0.5% of the population.
In other words, all fluff and no substance.
” the good people of Los Angeles use a little under 0.4 tonnes (400 litres) of water per day,”
They don’t. In these statistics, the water use of agriculture is included. That’s how they lambast us Westerners with our “wasteful lifestyles”.
Average residential water use in the US is about a hundred gallons per person per day. Lowest is Maine at around 51, highest Nevada at about 190.
Per capita usage for the US on the whole is over 1300 GPD. About half of this is withdrawn to cool power plants, and about 30% is for irrigation.
Four liters per day for residential use sounds about right.
Agriculture uses way more than four liters per person per day.
Eckspeshally in Kaliforny
Those are 2009 numbers.
How long before The ‘Greenies’ start talking about necro-cannibalism?
Another twofer. Reduce the number of humans and feed those that are left all at once.
Why bother with the necro bit?
https://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/modest.html
Soylent green…Good idea. Great movie too.
“…and with enough science and enough funding we’ll get it done.” Brown commenting on the American political left’s long term goal to increase public acceptance of governmental influence in individual’s daily lives.
I wonder what California’s wine industry thinks about using recycled pee-water for making wine?
Everyone (who gardens/farms) should be using their urine and not “wasting” it. Keeping urine separate from fecal matter is a necessary requirement but there’s quite a lot to be gained from the reutilization:
“Human urine is one of the fastest-acting, most excellent sources of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and trace elements for plants, delivered in a form that’s perfect for assimilation. Not only that, we all have a constant, year-round supply of it – and it’s free!”
http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/gardening/605742/urine_the_ultimate_organic_fertiliser.html
The idea is to use it before it starts going bad, when it turns “ammonia”, just pour it into the compost pile. But, while “fresh” simply dilute with some grey-water and use it for plant food.
“Dilute at least 10:1 and up to 50:1 for use on tender plants and seedlings.”
So, while I don’t think it takes a government program for common sense solutions, I have to say I hope Californians will start acting sensibly. Urine won’t solve California’s drought, but it’s not an insane idea.
If the State can spend all the resources to purify urine, I suggest they also consider that non-yellow, but very salty body of water which lies off their west coast.
Where are you going to get the billions of dollars to rip out, duplicate, and then rebuild millions of feet of in-wall and under-slab sewage pipes with new twin-hole sewage and urine pipes, then excavate the streets and lawns and concrete and bridges and driveways and buildings to connect all of those duplicated sewage pipes, then rebuild all of the ripped out millions of walls and slabs and roads and driveways and bridges and culverts and drainage pipes …
You see, all of these sewer and water pipes and fittings and valves already exit and already are working. THEY DO NOT NEED TO BE REPLACED to continue to function, but now must be duplicated to satisfy the democrat-in-charge.
Oh wait. This is Californication! Just add taxes. Charge the bill to the state for all illegal aliens and residents who can’t afford to pay taxes. Just add it to the state and federal budgets – like they did for the 200 mph rail that is being built by the husband of CA’s democrat senator.
Everyone with a septic tank already uses their waste, all of it including what goes into the insinkerator, to fertilize their lawn/landscape.
I am sticking to some Peter’s (who, BTW, disagree about what is the most balanced and available formulations) for my veggies, but you go right ahead and use pee in the garden you feed to your guests and kids.
Maybe on flowers and trees. Not on the garden plot.
Not for this kid. Not until I am scratching bottom in a survival situation.
Not tonight!
When I was about 10 I was at a boys sleep-away camp, the only females around were the nurse and cooking ladies, so we skinny dipped, and when outdoors we usually peed where ever we were.
However, at archery class the instructor insisted that we only pee on this one little tree, because he said it would kill trees if we peed on them, so only kill this one tree, and not the rest. After two months at the camp the peeing tree had grown far bigger than all the other trees that started out the same size. The instructor claimed he knew that would be the result, because he had conducted this experiment before, but he wanted to teach us that not everything you assume to be true is correct. I had already started to learn to be skeptic of many things I was told, but this made me even more determined to question everything.
I don’t understand why people who ask “is that really true?” are now called deniers. We really should be called inquisitive.
yay! was hoping someone would say this..:-) yes saving n diluting urine for the garden is so easy and gets such great results, and seeing as homegardening is again happening, what better time.
there is a phosphorus shortage globally they tell us(of course thats after all the big agri mobs bought all the sources they could find to corner the market)
all the animal manure that used to be piled aged n applied to soils now isnt
idiots buy in chem fertilisers at great cost.
I get by in hot aussie summers with 2000gallons max of rainwater, thats everything!!! washing bathing n garden and animals. avg no to low rain is nov to march/april
its about time the drier parts of america had a RElearning event
you can!! wash bedding then hardly dirty office clothes etc then jeans then dog rugs for eg in the SAME wash water, yes you still use rinse water fresh but it saves avg 300+litres of water on 4 fresh wash loads of water
yes it takes a bit longer to either spin n save the water n reload the machine
but if you really? were short of water -you’d damn well DO IT!
our ancestors did and I do.
you CAN have a perfectly good bucket wash using as little as 2 gallons of water inc washing long hair, yeah its not so easy as turning on a tap and standing there, you do have to exert yourself to upturn dippers of water over you 🙂
if you are short of water then you DO make the effort.
and laundry water should go onto garden, get another length of hose added to the one that comes with the machine n run it out direct to yard or fill buckets n carry them out.and if you must use regular shower etc divert to there as well in summer, even washing dishes in a bowl and tip that to garden.
Im still absolutely amazed that Cali KNEW it was facing water shortfalls and did NOT even start to tell people to ease off n conserve water at the start of year two of lower reservoir capacities. sheer stupidity.
Our ancestors were lucky to live to thirty.
A funny french writer of XIXth century named Alphonse Allais had a bit similar idea, intentionally as ludicrous as that of this governor: He proposed to recycle the urines of the diabetic people with the aim to extract the glucose they are containing and to use it in pastries making.
Interesting, isn’t it ?
Has he done a cost vs benefit study of this???
Has any liberal?
Yes, but he used the same people who concluded it would be a better use of funds to buy a subway (that no one will use in a state that is even more in love with their cars than most), than fleet of desal plants, or a pipeline to the Columbia river.
I think this same group of crack accountants and cost/benefit analysts are the ones that said taking dams apart was a fine idea.
Correction: …only about 2-3 gallons of recycled pee-water would be needed for washing out oak barrels.
My diet of alcohol and pizza, is starting to sound better and better.
In a related story, Governor Brown recommends Californians begin eating bugs as their primary protein source. Brown elaborated, that “bugs have lower cholesterol per gram of “meat”, and require significantly less water than beef, chicken or pork.”
Urban areas should be able to supply plenty of maggots and roaches for their residents to eat !
Most especially in China town. Roaches there are fat, juicy and yummy.
hasn’t California legalised smoking pot?… what if you drink their recycled stuff… hmmm everyone gets high and fails their mandatory urine tests at work and get fired… mass unemployment… the law of unintended consequences ???
The process of recycling should break down the complex hydrocarbons.
Not yet. Just for medical use.
An Australian senator (ironically named Ms. Waters) advocates urination in the shower. This despite the fact that the dams are over flowing. When a person is that daft, it makes sense to have a shower every time one has the urge to pee, as this will save water from going down the loo! As Mark Twain suggested, politicians, like diapers, should be changed often, and for the very same reasons!
Ms. Waters is, ofcourse, a member of the Greens.
As if Moonbeam’s stupid “bullet train” isn’t enough of a fiscal disaster, there’s SB32. But first, the ‘bullet’ train:
Moonbeam’s train is intended as his ‘legacy’. It will cost well north of $100 Billion, it will never be able to operate without passenger subsidies, the land bought up for rights-of-way will stop paying property taxes, the cost of a subsidized, 4 ½ hour trip from LA to SF will still cost more than an airline ticket, politics will ensure that every podunk town on the route (Manteca, Fresno, etc.) will have a stop, thus making it a very slow “bullet”, and best of all: there’s already a much better infrastructure in place: right now anyone can fly from LA to SF in one hour for around $100 (advance fare). So there is no need whatever for a 19th Century travel solution. It’s insane. A more stupendous White Elephant would be hard to imagine. Maybe next: Pyramids!
So, on to SB32, introduced by Sen. Fran Pavley, D (of course!) -Agoura Hills. It would mandate the reduction of “carbon” emissions (by which they mean harmless, beneficial CO2) to 80% below 1990 levels!
These people are insane! I don’t want to think about any alternatives. Like: they are deliberately trying to destroy the economy. So: they’re insane.
And their leader’s name is Moonbeam!
Don’t call Plant Food CO2. It confuses the masses.
I think I saw someone calculate that for the cost of the train, they could buy every airline ticket for everyone who travels this route for the next umpteen (I forget the number, but it was an eye-opener) years.
In polite society am I to:-
Leek on my peas
or
Pee on my leeks?