Toilet-to-tap: We could be drinking toilet water in the future

Some swear by supermarket water from glass bottles, others prefer tap water. In the UK, the water shortage could soon lead to resorting to very special measures - which come from the toilet. This is possible because of the toilet-to-tap system.

Water increasingly scarce

Water is a scarce commodity, especially at the moment, and in parts of Britain, its supply is being rationed, according to the Independent. Hence, many people might have to give up activities that require heavy water consumption.

In order to prevent a possible shortage of drinking water, the toilet-to-tap system has been in use for some time and is already being used in some places in the USA. The recycled water simply ends up back in our water system after extensive treatment.

Water is also a finite resource

Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency in the United Kingdom, saw this as the best solution for sustainable living, especially considering the amount of water that's wasted heavily on a daily basis. As per The Guardian, he said:

We need to remember where it comes from: when we turn on the tap, what comes out started in a river, lake or aquifer. The more we take, the more we drain those sources and put stress on nature and wildlife.

He himself described the system as unusual, but it is 'absolutely safe and healthy' and that people need to become less 'squeamish'. They explained the fact that the idea was met with little enthusiasm:

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

Perhaps not everyone likes the idea; at some point, however, the option may no longer be available. So far the use of the system is still a fairly new line of thought. The process that's required to recycle water in this way is not expected to be implemented in the UK before 2030.

This article was translated from Gentside DE.

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