There’s Something in the Water

So, in doing some research for this week’s blog, I found some very disturbing facts about our trash. Australia is actually one of the highest producers of waste (per person) in the world, and each year the average Australian family makes enough trash to fill their home. It seems that the first world countries generate more trash per head than the developing countries, probably due to advancements in technology and the current culture of “let’s replace something perfectly new with the next biggest thing”, which is definitely evident in the smartphone industry. I have definitely been guilty of doing this. Waste is fast becoming one of the biggest problems we are facing in modern day society and it can’t just disappear into thin air, so we are having to look into more solutions to manage this carefully. Richer countries and their advanced economies make up 16% of the world’s population but produce 34% of the world’s rubbish. Something is clearly not right about that number.

wastewater because it might be easier to just flush it away, and if you read last week’s blog post, you’ll know 80% of global wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated at all. If we are disposing of our waste ethically, it contributes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Less waste means an overall improved health and well-being (SDG 3), cleaner water and sanitation as less waste will find its ways into our water (SDG 6), a greater focus on climate action to reduce gases like methane (SDG 13) and if we can recycle as much as possible, we are being responsible and heading towards more of a recyclable world with a circular economy (SDG 12), where overall there is much less waste produced and hence less to be disposed of.

So what is currently being done to handle the issue? Time to take a look at the social side.

Recycling. This is something we’re taught about in school from a young age, don’t throw food in the recycle bin, paper and cardboard only, blah blah blah (Technology and Environment from back when I was in school). If all kids have learnt this clearly, then we don’t have an issue and we’ve caught the problem from the very start, but there seems to be a huge confusion. The amount of mismanaged waste in the world is a massive problem. Take a look at this diagram.

Some Perth councils have now changed to three bins in an effort to consciously recycle more compost/food waste, which some people have been struggling transitioning to. From what I can gather, people aren’t too sure on what goes where, and I also have no idea because I’m still living in a council with two bins. Where are the ads for clarification? We all constantly hear government ads talking about the negative harmful effects from smoking, but why is nobody talking about all the waste produced and its environmental impact?

But pushing the issue of recycling aside. What about the products that can’t be recycled at all? There are a fair few on the list, but I want to focus on feminine sanitary products, like tampons and pads. It’s sort of a supermarket staple, just like toilet paper. After talking about who gives a crap (link) in class this week, I was curious about all-natural, possibly biodegradable sanitary products and did a quick google to see if they did. I found several brands, including Tsuno and Bamboo Babe. So it’s not that they don’t exist, there just hasn’t been enough awareness and marketing around them to affect enough people.

So from a general point of view, I see two issues. Number one being the social stigma around talking about feminine sanitary products and hygiene and also just waste in general, and number two being the lack of awareness around the composition of the products themselves that can be harmful to your body and the environment.

So, as for social stigma. There’s always been a general attitude of ‘just don’t talk about it’, because blood, clots and other gross stuff. But it’s perfectly normal, and healthy, so I think we can address this fairly easily. Social media influencers are a big part of today’s society, with Youtube as big as it is, and it’s a wonder that influencers aren’t talking about being environmentally friendly in the feminine sanitary product department for some brownie points with their audiences. Also in sex-ed and school, guys and girls are separated to learn about guy and girl things, so that’s probably why guys are a little afraid of periods. If we could be a lot more open with our health education and get everyone to talk freely about it, it wouldn’t be so taboo.

So now the issue of lack of awareness and marketing. I’m surprised I haven’t heard about such environmentally friendly biodegradable pads/tampons before, considering the ease of marketing with the social media age nowadays. Clever social media campaigns, like who gives a crap, have definitely played a major influence on the toilet paper industry, so why can’t the same be done for the sanitary product industry? I think it really does make a huge difference, because if we all start using biodegradable pads and tampons, we have less waste in general, and accidentally flushing one down the toilet wouldn’t be as big of an issue (though you still shouldn’t do it), and we end up with less solids in our wastewater and therefore a less energy-intensive wastewater treatment process. And an overall happier and environmentally friendly world, to ensure clean water for everyone (SDG 6), more sustainable cities and communities because there is less waste (SDG 11), and an overall responsible consumption and production (SDG 12). Time to talk trash and blood!

#bloodyhell #talkingtrash #cleanmindcleanenvironment

So, 1.8 BILLION people at risk of of waterborne diseases, because of a lack of wastewater treatment. The graph below shows the percentage of wastewater treated before released back into the environment for all countries, and how much plastic marine debris is mismanaged. The major issue here is that legislation for wastewater treatment and release is not consistent worldwide, and there are no global regulations for wastewater treatment, leading to a massive gap in wastewater treatment quality between developed and developing countries.

And you might think, why should I care? And I had the same thought, as I live in a developed country where our wastewater is treated to a very high standard before being released back into the environment. The ocean is actually not as big as we think, despite the fact that 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water because what goes around comes around. We need to maintain our ecosystems, particularly for marine life and other organisms that choose to make the water their home, to keep everything in balance, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly number 14 (life below water) in this case. We need to sustainably manage and protect ecosystems from pollution, even a small amount of pollution can affect the entire ecosystem. Marine ecosystems affect public health, as many of us choose to make fish and seafood part of our diet, important to SDG 3 which is to maintain good health and wellbeing worldwide. Recreational water activities are also a reason to keep our water clean as we want to maintain cleanliness for activities like fishing, swimming and finally, of course, maintaining aesthetics (look at those pristine WA beaches). So overall, we’d like to maintain clean water and sanitation by high quality standards for wastewater treatment to ensure we all have access to clean water and sanitation, which is SDG 6, as this affects both life below water and overall health and well-being.

So, let’s take a brief look at a few case studies regarding wastewater legislation worldwide, and click the link if you want to read a few more.

In Australia, each state and territory has the responsibility to regulate and manage natural resources and public health. The 2004 National Water Initiative was signed by all of Australia’s state and territorial governments to ensure a consistent approach across the country to water and wastewater planning. So generally, the water is treated to a fairly high quality. Within WA, Water Corporation manages all ocean outfall activity in line with Perth’s Coastal Waters Environmental Management Framework. The conditions specify the quantity and quality of treated wastewater to be released back into the ocean, so generally, the water and treated wastewater quality is quite high in Australia.

In Finland, there are a number of wastewater plants which use the energy content in the sludge produced from wastewater in order to produce biogas. In particular, the Viikinmäki wastewater treatment plant serves about 800000 people and uses biogas (a renewable energy) to run the system, which is totally self-sufficient in heating and about 50% self-sufficient in electricity, contributing to SDG 11, working towards sustainable cities and communities. There is also a transboundary co-operation on water with Sweden, Norway and Russia to ensure consistency in protecting management of waters. Finland believes that ‘Nature and its biodiversity, the environment and the national heritage are the responsibility of everyone. The public authorities shall endeavour to guarantee for everyone the right to a health environment and for everyone the possibility to influence the decision that concern their own living environment’, and I agree that placing responsibility on each individual is a good way to maintain high water and wastewater treatment quality. Overall, there is a comprehensive and participatory approach to wastewater management at both the national level and regional level (as Finland is a member of the EU), with effective legislation and agreements governing the Baltic sea. There is also a high level of technological development and investment in the wastewater sector.

However, investment in the wastewater sector is not necessarily so accessible for all countries. In fact, as we can see from the diagram below, many countries have a sanitation plan (as wastewater treatment and sanitation pretty much go hand-in-hand), but not necessarily the funding to prove it. We can see from below that the number of countries that have sanitation and/or wastewater policies is quite high, however, few countries have the financial resources to implement these policies. So despite 80% of countries having formal national standards for wastewater, they may not be in use due to the lack of financial ability to do so, which is really, really sad.

So, what can be done? I personally think that the a worldwide organisation, such as the UN or WHO need to come up with legislation on wastewater treatment and the treatment quality required before it can be released back into the environment that can be implemented worldwide, to ensure consistency and overall good health and well-being for the world’s population, once again, leading back to SDG 3. We all know that this can’t be done overnight, so a target deadline (for example 2030) to implement such a policy would make a good baseline for the entire world to start thinking about our wastewater. I also think that updating the legislation consistently is also important, to match with the fact that the world is constantly changing. I know that funding is a major issue for some countries, and I think developed countries need to step up financially in order to help developing countries with their wastewater treatment to prevent nasty waterborne diseases from taking any more lives. Water is arguably the most important asset to human life so it is important for everyone to have access to clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) in order to protect our ecosystems, particularly life below water (SDG 14) and also the overall good health and well-being of the world’s population (SDG 3). So let’s all collaboratively work towards an overall happier and healthier planet and people!

#betterlatethannever #dontdrinkshittywater

You press the flush button on the toilet, you have showers and let water run down the sink, where does it all go and how does it get there? In Australia, there are 300000kms of water and wastewater pipes, enough to wrap around the earth 6 times. And of course, the world’s population is growing, but our sewage pipes can’t magically grow with us, and so our pipes will soon be clogged and wastewater treatment plants will be unable to handle all the literal crap (see my previous blog post if you’d like to know more about constituents in wastewater). In Western Australia, the Water Corporation operates over 100 wastewater treatment plants through advanced treatment processes and investments into plant upgrades. With an increasing population, there will be a point where the current infrastructure is unable to handle the waste produced. A large amount of energy is also required to operate these wastewater treatment plants, and the water industry really needs come up with new and innovative solutions to stay on top of it. As the effects of sewage on the environment are largely negative, the world must act now to prevent further issues from arising.

The role of wastewater treatment plants has changed recently, with resource recovery becoming essential in order to produce recycled water, biosolids and biogas. Recycled water is treated wastewater used for things like sports ground irrigation and toilet flushing (for more wastewater uses check out this Youtube video from the Water Corp). Biosolids are treated sewage sludges which can be used for land rehabilitation and composting, and biogas is a form of renewable energy composed of different gases, which can be converted to electricity and heat. In fact, SA Water has turned their largest wastewater treatment plant to be 87% energy self-sufficient, due to biogas production from biosolids, by investing money to connect new infrastructure, which is a good measure to reduce the amount of energy required to treat such water, and would be a great idea to adopt nationwide to reduce energy usage required to treat wastewater. The treatment process is quite rigorous, as you can see in the diagram below. The idea of using renewable energy such as solar, hydroelectric power and biogas to run wastewater treatment plants is a great idea to reduce carbon emissions due to the high-energy wastewater treatment process, with solar already being implemented in many plants. Using hydroelectric power to generate electricity to work the wastewater treatment plants would also be a great solution.

As for sewers being blocked and unable to handle the sludge going through, there are definitely some innovative solutions that need to be looked at (and may currently be overlooked due to the water monopoly). On a household scale, each household produces grey water and black water, and are separated as they required different levels of treatment. Grey water comes from sinks, washing machines and bathtubs, whereas black water includes the three P’s (see the previous blog post for reference). For future housing developments (and ignoring generated costs), I think a good idea would be to have a small wastewater treatment plant for each estate of houses (if you look into newer suburbs like Canning Vale, houses are grouped by small estates). Then the wastewater would not be required to spend as much time in transit, and could be treated quickly and efficiently (for sewage only), minimising blockages and issues with sewage infrastructure. Grey water produced by these households could be reused for purposes such as flushing toilets and garden irrigation, but not without clear education to homeowners first. This education includes telling people not to let things like food or hair wash down the sink, and if people have to reuse their own grey water, then it is highly probable that they will be much more cautious about what goes down, as it will definitely come back around.

One thing I’ve witnessed with my own eyes which could be a good idea to adopt in households was something I saw whilst on exchange in Japan. They have sinks built into their toilets in many homes (see picture below for reference), which run with clean water for you to wash your hands after you flush the toilet, and this water you’ve washed your hands with is then used to flush the toilet the next time around. Smart right?

Little measures like these will reduce the amount of wastewater used, and hence reduce any issues with blockages in the sewage system. I think there needs to be a new way of thinking, and water companies should be looking at the world from different scales to determine better ways to do things to prevent any blockages in the infrastructure and to also reduce the amount of energy used in wastewater treatment plants, planning ahead for population growth, and is completely in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly number 9 to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation. By 2030, the aim is to retrofit structures to make them sustainable and that there is greater efficiency, which could be done using renewable energy. Innovation will always have a big role to play and it will be how our water industry maintains itself and its infrastructure way into the future, and not to brag, but I think I made some good suggestions above.

And one last thing. EDUCATION. We need to educate our world to reduce this stigma of using either treated wastewater or even just recycled grey water. There is definitely a lack of understanding about how high the quality of the water is after treatment and I think it starts with the government, and spending some money on ads to educate the population. Ads actually really stick with people, which I can say is true for myself, as Aussie ads pop into my head all the time and I reference them in conversation. Maybe a new catchy tagline is the trick?

#dirtytalkforthegreatergood

Have you ever wondered, ‘Where does our water come from?’ Well of course we all have, but the question that nobody really asks is ‘Where does our used water go?’ Personally, I haven’t ever really considered where our wastewater ends up. Why should I care, if I’m not the one to deal with it? This is the standard attitude for most people (including myself until recently) regarding wastewater: out of sight, out of mind, and in this case, flush and forget. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve realised what the big deal actually is. So now it’s time to ask yourself, why should you care about our water and wastewater?

Well for a start, the increase in population and climate change happening are causing our water supplies to decrease. In the past, the majority of Perth’s water was sourced from our dams, which has changed significantly over the past 10 years, shown in the graph below. It is becoming harder and harder to effectively manage our water resources, and it has become evident that wastewater treatment is the way to the future, with recycled water being considered an option for clean drinking water in a long term plan. This is in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (particularly number 6), where the aim is to have clean water and sanitation for everyone.

And this leads me to my next point. If treated wastewater is the way into the future, why are we not already educating our kids on what can and can’t be flushed? We teach children how to separate your normal trash from recycling, so why can’t the same be done for wastewater? In an ideal world, only the three P’s should be flushed down the toilet. Pee, poop and (toilet) paper, period. But somehow, all kinds of random crap just gets shoved into the toilet because it goes away to a place that we can’t see it. Flush and forget, yet again.

What ends up in our wastewater? Plenty of things that shouldn’t, so check out the dirty dozen of items that REALLY shouldn’t be flushed in the image below (which is not an exhaustive list). Have I ever seen this image in my life before? Big fat nope. There are always diagrams on regular trash cans about what you can and can’t throw in there, yet somehow, the most you see in a toilet is not to flush the feminine sanitary products (from a female’s point of view anyway, not sure what you guys see in the men’s toilets). Having this diagram in public toilets would be a great guide and deterrence for everyone to stop flushing crap.

In reality, wastewater is 99% water. The other 1% is the other crap we’ve chucked in it (the nicer word for this is constituents). Unfortunately, it’s scattered about and we can’t simply grab all of it at once and throw it out. These constituents can be separated into three general categories: physical, chemical and biological. Physical constituents are solids and can be anything from cigarettes to fruit skins, chemical constituents involve things like pharmaceuticals made up of chemicals which have dissolved into the water, whilst biological constituents include microorganisms like bacteria. And how do these things end up in the water in the first place? We humans either intentionally or unintentionally throw them in, flush and forget, out of sight, out of mind. This is exactly why I think we should be teaching our kids from a young age about what can be flushed and what can’t. The three P’s people.

Okay, so why the emphasis on all not flushing so much shit? Wastewater treatment essentially converts wastewater from a state of being totally unusable, to water that can be returned to the environment (with minor environmental impact) or recycled for another purpose, such as irrigation of sports grounds, garden watering and so on. The more crap that’s in our water, the harder it becomes to remove all of it and recycle the water. More energy and resources are then required to treat the wastewater. It’s also super important as clean water is important for the ecosystem, particularly the animals that choose to make the water their home, and also for the general health of humans. If wastewater isn’t properly cleaned, it can carry diseases. The aim is to have wastewater with the three P’s only, so that we can have clean water for all, tying back into the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), clean water and sanitation for all (SDG 6), which then also contributes to overall good health and well-being (SDG 3).

I think the key issue behind all of the crap that ends up in wastewater is the lack of education. What not to flush needs to be taught from the time that we are potty trained, all the way through school to emphasise why it is so important. We need to explain why it is so bad for the environment, and how much harder it is becoming to treat wastewater. I believe there should be more government funding for ads telling you what can’t be flushed and why, and that this acknowledgement will lead to a change in schools’ curriculum in the future, in a similar way that the plastic bag ban has become a huge thing in the past few years. I think social media influencers also need to jump on their game and use their platforms to educate on such important environmental issues and just forget about the social stigma that seems to exist. A greater wastewater education will not only help out with clean water and sanitation for all, it will also make a great start on quality education for all (SDG 4). If we can somehow put all these things together, then the world (and your toilets) will be a much cleaner place. #starttalkingdirty

Remember the three P’s guys. – Chloe