Study highlights environmental and health benefits of
recycled water
Researchers
compared California's water conservation efforts with two options: banning
landscape irrigation and expanding the use of alternative water sources, such
as desalination and recycled water.
SilverV/iStock
LOS ANGELES — March 17, 2016
More widespread use of recycled water
in California would bring benefits for the environment and human health, according to a new study
published online in the American Journal of Public Health.
Researchers at the UCLA
Fielding School of Public Health compared California’s current water
conservation efforts with two other options: banning landscape irrigation and
expanding the use of alternative water sources, such as desalination and
recycled water.
They found that reusing more waste
water would have the greatest potential to reduce water and energy use and
lower greenhouse gas emissions. It would also improve the overall resiliency of
the water supply and benefit public health, for example by improving
municipalities’ ability to maintain green spaces, which can lead to cleaner
air, thus reducing the occurrence of respiratory disease. Green spaces also
help people be active, reducing obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Although municipal bans on landscape
irrigation have helped conserve water and energy, they can end up depleting
urban green spaces.
“Expansion of recycled water use has
a tremendous potential to positively impact health,” explained Hilary Godwin, a
co-author of the study and a UCLA professor of environmental health sciences.
“Recycled water is often perceived to be dirty or unhealthful, or associated
with the moniker ‘toilet to tap.’ Our research helps change this conversation.”
At present, around 52 percent of
California’s water is used for irrigation. In some parts of the state, recycled
water is used to irrigate golf courses and green spaces, but most urban areas
don’t have the infrastructure to recycle water for large-scale irrigation
projects.
When the researchers analyzed water
desalination, they found that the technique uses 50 percent more energy than
importing water, and is 120 times more energy-intensive than getting water from
the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which is gravity-powered.
Brian Cole, adjunct assistant
professor of environmental health sciences at the Fielding School and a senior
author of the study, said that water systems around the world could expand the
use of recycled water.
“The hope is that this research
might inspire communities to consider increasing recycled water use because of
the potential to have a positive impact on public health,” he said.
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