This story is about humiliation sold to the people as “fighting climate change.” To be specific, it’s about forcing the people to explicitly and inevitably use processed toilet water for drinking and other household use.
Yes, implicitly, we have all been ingesting “mystery” ingredients in our drinking water, in our air and food for years. Yes, industrial companies have been dumping their waste into rivers for God knows how long (and before the Clean Water Act of 1972, it was not even considered “bad”). But right now they are trying to make the humiliation official.
They desire for us to sheepishly nod and say that yes, we, little insignificant people, want to drink our own waste, eat bugs, etc. Our aspiring overlords are nostalgic about the good ol’ feudal days, and they are trying to put us, lowly peasants, back in our place. That’s my take on it, anyway.
A Little Bit of Philosophy
I feel sadness and grief. I am grieving the attack on the sacred, on the things that are very simple and timeless, on the joy that is ours. I grieving the insult as I look at the unnaturally white geoengineered sky, at the rain filled with chemicals, at the old trees being cut in my neighborhood park in the name of climate change.
I am grieving the ugly sight of sewage bits floating in the nearby river, it is just so wrong! How sad it is that for all the empty talk about using technology for “sustainable future,” they can’t even contain the feces and the waste overrunning water treatment facilities in New York.
And let’s not forget that when we talk about sewage water in the U.S., “some city sewer lines run right to the factories, allowing them to dump their waste into the city’s sewage treatment plants.” What we are dealing with here is more upside-down language.
They, the “they,” are trying to convince us that their new-ish lucrative water recycling is akin to the natural cycle of life and death that happens in nature (which is not the case, those are very much not the same, and their “systems” are full of sloppy holes — which works for them since every lucrative “solution” they sell comes with holes and problems they will lucratively “solve” at a later point).
They are also mixing up the reasonable with the absurd and packing both into the same basket. They are saying that the need for more water is due to population growth and climate change. Well, is it really so, or is it that their new so called “sustainable” model is a lie?
Is it maybe that their “sustainable” future requires massive data centers, insane “smart” tech everywhere (like this one), an army of robots, giant wind turbines, toxic solar panels, etc.? (And speaking of “climate,” would it maybe help to stop playing God and to cut their crazy geoengineering feats?)
Besides, there’s a big difference between sending treated waste water for industrial reuse (which I think is sensible) and making people drink it. But they are talking about it as if it were all one sustainable thing.
Our mobsters have funds printed on demand for them to push “vaccine” propaganda but they “save” on the sanitary standards for the peasants. In New York where I am at, there is even an attempt to dump large amount of radioactive materials from a decommissioned nuclear power plant straight into the Hudson river, close to where several of my friends live. In what world is this happening? Oh, in my world. How can I not feel grief?
New York, New York
Call me naive but I have not considered drinking my own waste or using it for laundry, in practical terms. I was aware of the talk about it. I knew about the long-standing plight of a Hopi nation in Arizona against the use of waste-generated artificial snow at a ski resort slapped on top of their sacred site.
But I didn’t know that in San Francisco, for example, there was a legal requirement for on-site waste water recycling in new development projects over 100,000 square feet. And I didn’t know that was an active and coordinated push for similar requirements in many American states.
Only recently, I learned that in New York, the New School and a couple of fancy building complexes were using “treated (knock on wood, fingers crossed) toilet water for washing clothes.” What?!
The New School
The New School is a trendy university in the heart of New York. The tuition runs between approximately 20K and 30K per semester. Using their own words, “whether you’re on our main campus in New York City or our Parsons Paris campus, the boundaries of the classroom dissolve as the city becomes your studio, rehearsal space, and research center.” [Another boundary evidently dissolved is between the toilet and the laundromat].
For giggles, I searched for “blackwater” (industry speak for liquid sewage waste) on their website, and found that “the New School’s University Center has won the Urban Land Institute 2017–2018 Global Award for Excellence,” and greywater and blackwater treatment are listed among the sustainability accomplishments, etc. This is the only mention of toilet water on their website I was able to find.
However, the wastewater recycling company that they have been working with, Natural Systems Utilities, is far more explicit in their tooting the toilet water horn:
“Working with NSU [Natural Systems Utilities], the New School installed conservation fixtures and an on-site water treatment and reclaimed water system at The New University Center on 5th Avenue. The systems are designed to reduce water use by 74% and reduce discharge into the combined sewer by 89%.
All wastewater (commonly referred to as “blackwater”) is collected and treated at The New University Center including water from toilets, sinks, showers, laundry, etc.
Stormwater is also included as a source of reclaimed water after being detained by the vegetated green roofs The University Center contains one of the largest in-building water recycling systems in New York City at 40,000 gallons per day (gpd). The University Center is one of the first buildings approved to reuse treated water for laundry [emphasis mine].”
A rhetorical question from this lowly peasant: Are prospective students and their parents being told this curious tidbit during school tours? And if so, do the people taking pride in washing their clothes in treated toilet water also wear masks on their faces to protect themselves from disease?
Battery Park City
In New York, The Battery City Park complex is another pioneer of water reuse:
“Sustainable urban development reaches new heights in downtown Manhattan with Battery Park. Battery Park City is a redevelopment area of 92 acres under the control of the NYC Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) of New York City.
Natural Systems Utilities (NSU) designed, built and currently operates the wastewater reuse systems and rainwater recycling systems within six Battery Park City Buildings.
These campus utilities systems have consistently achieved greater than 50% water consumption reduction and a greater than 60% reduction in wastewater discharge (compared to similar base residential buildings in NYC).
These water recycling project savings are the direct result of wastewater reuse and water conservation. Battery Park City has been developed as a model for scaling water conservation and reuse projects in urban redevelopment and campus-scale settings.”
New York City is a place where a beautiful park in Manhattan is being destroyed this very moment, and old, tall, dignified trees are being brutally cut down in the name of “climate change.” (I reckon, someone in a high chair is making bank on tearing down the existing park and putting an elevated novelty in its place to prepare for the rising seas).
Somehow, the city that is in danger of being submerged is simultaneously in danger of water shortages and needs the peasants to locally reuse their own toilet waste. Got it, dear overlords, thanks.
Domino
According to the New York Times, “on the Brooklyn waterfront, the 11-acre, roughly $ 3 billion Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment will feature a more than $ 10 million black-water system designed not only to cut water use but to reduce pressure on storm-water systems.” Are we talking about Domino Sugar associated with trafficking, forced labor, and occasional contamination-related product recalls? Oh, thank goodness they are into sustainability now.
Trendsetters
According to the Christian Scient Monitor: San Francisco is “leading the charge in extreme water recycling. In 2015, the city mandated a decentralized approach, requiring the cleaning and reusing of water on-site for all new buildings larger than 100,000 square feet.
Researchers estimate that in five to 10 years, the technology, safety testing, and regulations will come together to enable water neutrality, achieved through circular systems that repeatedly reuse a set amount of water rather than pumping water in from outside sources.”
That same year, in 2015, Bill Gates drank what allegedly was a glass of recycled waste water, on camera. In the words of the NPR, “Bill Gates raised a glass to (and of) water from poop.”
“It’s a scientifically sound idea, and Bill Gates has a video to prove it. In the video, released this week, he stands in front of the Janicki Omniprocessor, a giant new machine that can turn human waste into clean drinking water in minutes. He waits patiently as Peter Janicki — the engineer who invented the contraption — fills his glass with crystal-clear water from the machine.
Without the slightest hesitation, Gates takes a sip. ‘The water tasted as good as any I’ve had out of a bottle,’ he wrote on his blog’ and having studied the engineering behind it, I would happily drink it every day. It’s that safe.’
The Omniprocessor is one of the latest projects funded by the Gates Foundation (which also supports NPR [emphasis mine, and lol]), and the philanthropist wants the rest of the world to back it up as well. The machine’s purpose is to help the 783 million [the live link now goes to a 404 page] people living without clean water and the nearly 2.5 billion who don’t have adequate sanitation.”
Recently, Yale published an article titled “Beyond the Yuck Factor: Cities Turn to ‘Extreme’ Water Recycling.” Here is what they have to say:
“While centralized water reuse for nonpotable purposes has been around for decades, a trend called the ‘extreme decentralization of water and wastewater’ — also known as ‘distributed water systems,’ or ‘on-site’ or ‘premise’ recycling — is now emerging as a leading strategy in the effort to make water use more sustainable.
It’s not just a pipe dream. Proof of concept is unfolding in San Francisco, which in 2015 required all new buildings of more than 100,000 square feet to have on-site recycling systems. So far, six blackwater and 25 graywater systems are using the technology, and many others are in the works. (Blackwater comes from toilets, dishwashers, and kitchen sinks; graywater comes from washing machines, showers, and bathtubs.) […]
To demonstrate its technology, Epic Cleantec, a water recycling company, has even brewed a beer called Epic OneWater Brew with purified graywater from a 40-story San Francisco apartment building.”
Santa Clara County
“Environmentally-friendly drought-proof supply”
San Diego
Here is a promotional bit from San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental NGO.
“After years of research, advocacy, and legal action, San Diego Coastkeeper, along with our environmental partners at CERF, Surfrider Foundation San Diego, and San Diego Audubon Society, signed a cooperative agreement with the City of San Diego obligating the City to implement the region’s first large-scale wastewater recycling project.
By the full completion date in 2035, the Pure Water project will provide 83 million gallons of locally-sourced drinking water per day, meeting nearly one-third of San Diego’s drinking water needs. Additionally, this multi-benefit project will result in a substantial reduction in partially-treated wastewater discharges into the ocean, serving to protect the health and water quality of our coastal waters.”
Stanford: Hold My Beer
Stanford Engineering beat them all. “The cleanest drinking water is recycled,” they say. I am going to steal the sarcastic tone from Riley Waggaman and say that, according to Stanford, toilet water is what the peasants crave.
The Stanford Engineering take is based on this 2022 study whose conclusion was that the “cytotoxicity of potable reuse waters is lower than that of drinking waters derived from surface waters.”
My conclusion is that tap water is lamentably dirty (oh, surprise) but it doesn’t mean that the solution is to switch to treated toilet water. It just means that the facilities that process fresh water need to do a better job. Maybe it’s just me.
Dignity
What is missing from all this industry rhetoric is the intangible beauty, the dignity, the joy of life. What is missing is the fact that we are not meat bags and not machines who can be “cooled off” with treated sewage waste.
Now, if one wants to drink processed toilet water, fine, they can do whatever they want. That can be a choice. But the oligarchs hate it when we have choices! Human subjectivity, dignity, and free will are very scary things to them. So they want to subjugate our souls, steal our dignity in novel ways, and make us eat bugs (that we don’t want to eat) and drink toilet water (that we don’t want to drink). All of this has an S&M feel to it somehow.
Texas
So, California and New York are bragging about potable toilet water. What about Texas? The language on the Texas state government website is a lot more tame and reasonable, talking about the industrial reuse of recycled water, which makes sense. But it seems like the policies could potentially become somewhat similar. Time will tell!
“One of the latest examples in this trend is the 198,000-square-foot Austin Central Library, which has reduced its potable water use by 85 percent by capturing rainwater and air conditioning condensate and tapping into the city’s purple pipe network. (Purple is the standard color of pipes across the U.S. that carry recycled water.)
[The reclaimed water is used for “toilet flushing and irrigation,” not for drinking, but the devil is always in the detail, and it all depends on how clean the end product is, etc.]
In June, the city of Austin celebrated a rain and condensate catchment system along with a mini sewage treatment plant at the entrance to the city’s new Permitting and Development Center. The catchment system is named OSCAR (short for “on-site collection and reuse system”); the treatment plant, CLARA (“closed-loop advanced reclaimed assembly”).
By catching rainwater, collecting air conditioning condensate and treating sewage on-site for irrigation and non-potable uses like flushing toilets, the city estimates OSCAR and CLARA will reduce potable water demand for the 260,000-square-foot building by 75 percent, saving the city more than 1 million gallons of water each year.”
On a side note, here’s the official statement on the not-a-conspiracy-theory cloud seeding in Texas:
“It is crucial … for Texas to secure the water resources necessary to sustain its growth and provide for the future. To help supplement the state’s water supply, some areas are using periodic cloud seeding attempts to increase rainfall.
Cloud seeding (also called precipitation enhancement) is a form of weather modification used to stimulate clouds to produce more rain. The process involves using aircraft to spray clouds with small particles that have a structure like ice, such as silver iodide. The particles cause the moisture in the cloud to condense into water droplets until they are heavy enough to fall as rain.
Many countries have invested in weather modification technologies, including cloud seeding, in recent years to mitigate water shortages caused by population growth and drought. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has been a leader in exploring this technology within the dry Gulf region, operating a cloud seeding program since 2002.”
Phew, I can now finally take my tinfoil hat off.
Florida
No climate change language, possibly similar policies.
United Kingdom
Just the other day, the Guardian published a story about a class action lawsuit against water companies who had allegedly lied about the amount of partially treated and raw sewage they discharged into rivers, lakes, coastal waters, and other waterways:
“The public could receive hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation in the first class action against water companies which are alleged to have failed to reveal the true scale of raw sewage discharges, and abused their position as privatised monopolies,” the Guardian said.
Previously, the Guardian noted the following:
“British people need to be ‘less squeamish’ about drinking water derived from sewage, the boss of the Environment Agency has said …
He said: ‘Part of the solution will be to reprocess the water that results from sewage treatment and turn it back into drinking water – perfectly safe and healthy, but not something many people fancy.’ Bevan admitted the move would be ‘unpopular’ and reactions on social media have been mixed but he said there was a need to ‘change how we think about water.’”
There may be a bit of a story arc here, in addition to the obvious issue at hand. As it goes, the original “solution” wasn’t very good. So a new solution is proposed, and the logic is: “There is already waste in the water, and the treatment technologies aren’t great due to the faulty assumption is that there is no waste in the water processed … so why don’t we just process the waste knowingly, and this time around, the water will be clean?” Etc.
The Cynicism of It All
What is happening is that the super oligarchs decided that the peasants have gotten too well-fed and too dignified, and that they should be reinstated in their official status of property of the overlords. As property, the peasants are far more useful to the masters if they don’t take up too much space.
From the overlords’ perspective, it is rather perfect to make the people drink their own waste and eat the bugs that eat our waste, while also creating a whole new lucrative waste-processing market out of thin air.
Having deiced that, the super oligarchs got to work, funded the “right” research, bribed the right high-level influencers who then inspired the well-intended followers, and there it goes. And now this idea has a life of its own, its passionate proponents, consultants, profiteers … oh the cynicism of it all.
Another Word on Dignity
I think this challenge, like so many challenges today, is about remembering our dignity. It’s tough. How do you convey to a person who sees himself (and you) as a meat bag that it’s not dignifying for your soul to drink processed toilet water, even if it’s “clean”? How do you convey that the natural cycles of nature are not the same as Bill Gate’s plant?
The self-identifying meat bag probably won’t hear you and won’t understand what you mean. And so it’s fair to grieve. But the trick, I think, is to respect your grief but not feel dejected, and to remember the sacredness and the beauty of your soul no matter what. And to refuse to be turned into a dejected slave even if they try to do it to you. You are not a slave.
About the Author
To find more of Tessa Lena’s work, be sure to check out her bio, Tessa Fights Robots.