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— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Hi-tech cleaning:Thanks to modern scientific procedures, any kind of water can now be cleaned and made fit for drinking.

Urban waste water streams from the domestic sector, i.e. from houses and apartments and schools, contain a large amount of organic load, nutrients and soaps and detergents.

The current paradigm is to use this stream which emerges as a by-product of our consumption.

Waste water recycling is but the first step in the process. When the organic load is reduced and oxygen pumped into the system, the water is filtered through very fine pores and then it is disinfected before it is reused again.

Nuwater, the name given by the government of Singapore to its recycled water, follows such a stringent and elaborate process that it can be bottled and sold as packaged water. Modern technology is capable of treating in almost endless loops the water we consume.

At the household level, water which comes out from washing clothes or having a bath is relatively less contaminated bacteriologically and is called grey water. Grey water is easier to recycle than black water — the water that comes from the toilet and the kitchen — because it has less bacteria in it. Black water too can be recycled and has to have a more elaborate process for recovery. Ultimately, it is only when we “close the loop” on resources that we become sustainable.

Linear processes generally are not sustainable and the quest for reduce, reuse, recycle and recover is closing the loop on water to make cities sustainable.

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