The "old school" of wastewater treatment, still embraced…
““The "old school" of wastewater treatment, still embraced by most government regulators and many academics, considers water to be a vehicle for the routine transfer of waste from on place to another. It also considers the accompanying organic material to be of little or no value. The "new school", on the other hand, sees water as a dwindling, precious resource that should not be polluted with waste; organic materials are seen as resources that should be constructively recycled. My research for this chapter included reviewing hundreds of research papers on alternative wastewater systems. I was amazed at the incredible amount of time and money that has gone into studying how to clean the water we have polluted with human excrement. In all of the research papers, without exception, the idea that we should simply stop defecating in water was never suggested.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Traditional wastewater views treat water as a waste conduit, while newer perspectives see it as a scarce resource and aim to recycle organics.
In simple terms: Old view: water = waste; new view: water = resource.
Key Takeaway
Shift to treating water as valuable and recycling waste.
Themes
environment
sustainability
resource management
Mood
concerned
optimistic
Type
analytical
advocacy
When to use this quote
- municipal water treatment
- industrial processes
- agricultural runoff
- policy development
Key Concepts
circular economy
water scarcity
organic recycling
Questions to Reflect On
- What incentives could accelerate resource‑centric water policies?
- How can we balance economic growth with water stewardship?
A Different Perspective
Implementation costs and infrastructure upgrades can be prohibitive.