Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => SUP General => Topic started by: fly2surf on November 30, 2019, 10:27:41 AM
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Anyone flatwater paddle regularly in a lake with recycled water?
The kind that used to be marked by purple pipes?
Just wondering because I’m seeing more and more subdivisions that use it for their lakes, streams, and water features. They have also moved away from the purple pipes and the “stink” that people associate with poo water by having a sign with all kinds of rules posted: no swimming, catch and release only, no pets allowed in the water, etc.....but no mention that this is because the water is recycled (kinda sneaky if you ask me).
I found this interesting because the use of recycled water is apparently becoming more widespread and some might not be aware that their local spot is using it.
Yes I know all water has flowed through multiple people and animals, and that the use of recycled water for things like golf courses saves the more filtered and treated stuff for our drinking supply.
Also wondering what the standards are for determining when water is “recycled” versus when it’s cleaned enough to be discharged into rivers, lakes, etc.
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It's still in purple pipes. Reclaimed water isn't dangerous. No nasty bugs or anything. It can have higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorous but that's usually about the only concern. That's why golf courses like it...free fertilizer. Reclaimed water is cleaner than what can be normally discharged to a body of water. It has to go through tertiary treatment and then chlorine or UV disinfection.
Bottom line....if you don't drink a bunch you'll be fine.
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The regulations for discharge water from any kind of plant are weird. When I worked at the Trojan Nuclear Plant most of the water we discharged had lower levels of radionuclides than the water we took in. We used river water for everything. We'd flocculate it (add goop to make the major contaminants stick together in clumps) and run it through a sand filter then chlorinate it a little for drinking water, then deionize it for secondary water (steam plant and such) and do secondary deionizing and degasification for primary water (reactor coolant). we filtered the reactor coolant before discharge, but fundamentally the water that everyone outside the plant was scared of--primary coolant--was literally H2O and nothing else. Everything else was more contaminated with something. The worse being water that came right out of the river which we could not put back.
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It's still in purple pipes. Reclaimed water isn't dangerous. No nasty bugs or anything. It can have higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorous but that's usually about the only concern. That's why golf courses like it...free fertilizer. Reclaimed water is cleaner than what can be normally discharged to a body of water. It has to go through tertiary treatment and then chlorine or UV disinfection.
Bottom line....if you don't drink a bunch you'll be fine.
Oh I understand it’s probably safer than what used to be discharged into rivers in the 50’s.
It’s just that I was surprised the developers are doing this on the down low. No exposed purple pipes and no signs saying recycled water. Just signs saying don’t drink, don’t swim, don’t eat the fish, don’t let your dog swim in the water, etc.
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The regulations for discharge water from any kind of plant are weird. When I worked at the Trojan Nuclear Plant most of the water we discharged had lower levels of radionuclides than the water we took in. We used river water for everything. We'd flocculate it (add goop to make the major contaminants stick together in clumps) and run it through a sand filter then chlorinate it a little for drinking water, then deionize it for secondary water (steam plant and such) and do secondary deionizing and degasification for primary water (reactor coolant). we filtered the reactor coolant before discharge, but fundamentally the water that everyone outside the plant was scared of--primary coolant--was literally H2O and nothing else. Everything else was more contaminated with something. The worse being water that came right out of the river which we could not put back.
Probably some of the many regulations that drive up the costs of nuke power. Some of course are definitely necessary, but it would be nice if they were reasonable and we had nuke power and electric cars everywhere.
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I'd be more worried about ocean water. Some spots are literally cesspools. Doheny can get that way. You look down and see ground up trash mixed into the water reducing the clarity. A one meter square area will have thousands of tiny trash bits floating. You almost need a hydrogen peroxide shower when you're done surfing. I'd paddle purple ;D
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It's still in purple pipes. Reclaimed water isn't dangerous. No nasty bugs or anything. It can have higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorous but that's usually about the only concern. That's why golf courses like it...free fertilizer. Reclaimed water is cleaner than what can be normally discharged to a body of water. It has to go through tertiary treatment and then chlorine or UV disinfection.
Bottom line....if you don't drink a bunch you'll be fine.
Oh I understand it’s probably safer than what used to be discharged into rivers in the 50’s.
It’s just that I was surprised the developers are doing this on the down low. No exposed purple pipes and no signs saying recycled water. Just signs saying don’t drink, don’t swim, don’t eat the fish, don’t let your dog swim in the water, etc.
That does seem kind of weird...where are you? You might want to call the local regulators and find out what the requirements are.