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Public Health Aspects of Water Reuse for Potable Supply
Author(s) -
Berger Bernard B.
Publication year - 1960
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1960.tb00523.x
Subject(s) - reuse , sewage , potable water , water supply , water quality , public health , environmental science , environmental planning , business , waste management , water resource management , environmental engineering , biology , engineering , ecology , medicine , nursing
This article discusses the concept of using treated municipal sewage for all municipal purposes, and presents the experiences of Chanute and Lyndon, Kansas, as striking examples. In both instances, the municipality itself made the decision to re‐use its sewage as the best possible solution to the water supply problem. Recognition of the future need for water reuse is forcing public agencies to consider new concepts of water quality management. It may even become feasible to practice complete recovery of the water component of municipal sewage, the pure water that makes up 99.9 per cent of sewage (by weight). It is assumed here that sewage treatment includes the activated‐sludge process and chlorination, followed by conventional water treatment. There are, however, a number of physical, microbiologic, and chemical factors pertinent to the question of water reuse and public health. Those factors discussed in this article include the following: physical quality; bacterial pathogens; fungal pathogens; enteric viruses; parasitic protozoa; parasitic worms; infectious disease; undesireable chemicals; inorganic chemicals; and, organic compounds.