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Show If tertiary treatment - were used, this water could be used for higher quality industrial uses. Much public education and breaking down of public resistance would be required before this water could be used for household consumption. Plants have been constructed that produce potable quality water directly from sewage effluents. One of these is the South Tahoe Water Reclamation Plant, which started operation in March of 1968. It has since processed over a billion gallons of drinking- water- quality effluent. The increased cost for this treatment over secondary treatment is about $ 0.17/ 1,000 gallons. Water from treatment plants could be used for many purposes other than human consumption, such as watering golf courses and parks in the proposed Jordan River Parkway; supplying water for golf course water hazards, for fish ponds and decorative water fountains in parks, and for public swimming lakes; recharging the groundwater basin; watering lawns through a separate system; and many industrial uses. In Salt Lake County this water could be injected into the groundwater basin as a barrier to keep salt water from intruding into the groundwater reservoir as it was drawn down from increased use. This treated water would also help the water quality and reduce stream pollution. However, rights to the use of this sewage effluent already exist, and if it were taken for other uses, a replacement source of water would be required. One of the problems with tertiary treatment would be the reliability of the wastewater reclamation plants in their operations with respect to public health protection. A study conducted in the Central Valley of California showed that 30 to 60 percent of these plants had a serious failure sometime during the year. Plant alarms, emergency power supply, short- term retention reservoirs, long- term emergency disposal areas, standby equipment, and multiple units could be used to insure that untreated effluent is not released into areas of human contact. The degree of reliability would depend on the degree of public exposure to reclaimed water. Industrial reuse- recycle projects could also be used for water conservation. The ultimate goal of this method would be to have no effluent discharge from the cycle. This would also reduce the pollution from outflow because the waste residues would be taken from the system and disposed of in a suitable manner. The main drawbacks of recycling and reuse of wastewaters are the high initial cost and operation of equipment and public resistance to the use of this water for either human contact or consumption. 532 |
