Background Info:

Recent events and news about water scarcity got me thinking about this. So the question is essentially the title. Or am I missing something?

If you live anywhere that uses a sewer system rather than septic tanks, isn’t it already doing that?

In my area, the water company pulls in from the river, filters and processes it, and pipes it out to homes. It gets used in the homes, discharged into the sewer to a treatment plant, treated, and then pumped back into the river.

Even if your water company’s intake is before the sewage treatment plant, the next town’s intake is downstream. So if you’re not drinking your neighbor’s processed toilet water, you’re drinking that of the town upstream.

Is getting mixed with river water simply enough to “dilute” the ick-factor here, or is there something I’m missing?

  • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgOP
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    5 months ago

    Poor branding aside, it doesn’t really change anything, though. But yeah.

    I at least appreciate the honesty in the naming rather than some marketing doublespeak. That said, I’d be okay with it if they called it “astronaut water” or something lol.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Poor branding aside, it doesn’t really change anything, though.

      Branding is everything when it comes to the masses. Ideas live or die because of their marketing.

      • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgOP
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        5 months ago

        Lol, I hate that you’re right :sigh:

        Anyone who’s passed 5th grade science would know that water is fine, but that’s asking too much of more people than I’d care to imagine.

        • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          If you had never heard of the actual things before, the following names are terrible.

          Would you sign up for a planned, injectable micro infection?

          or use a body restrainer strap in a car? A car equipped with an explosive skull decelerating dynamic catchment system?

          Just saying, naming of things matters

        • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Men in Black nailed this 20 years ago:

          “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals…” - Agent K

          People as individuals are usually pretty smart in at least a few areas. People as the masses are highly emotional. Our emotions produce revulsion at the idea of drinking reclaimed water, and so that’s what you get as a response from the masses without proper marketing to change those feelings. So, if anyone isn’t giving this enough thought, I’d say it was the person who came up with the slogan “toilet to tap”. They should have known better.

      • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgOP
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        5 months ago

        (Disregard if NEW is an acronym, I guess lol).

        Not trendy enough. How about NuWater?

        I was thinking of “astronaut water” if we had to rebrand it.

    • Lyre@lemmy.ca
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      5 months ago

      Haha thats actually a solid idea. I’d drink astronaut water in a heartbeat.

      I think your right the honesty is refreshing but when it comes to marketing i think reclaimed water is just about the last place you want that kind of honesty