News
New World Record Set For Wastewater Recycling
The Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) in California, one of the biggest water purification facilities of its kind, has helped the state set a new Guinness World Record title for the most wastewater recycled into drinking water in 24 hours.
Orange County Water District and Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) worked together to set the title, with the attempt inspired by the increase in droughts and extreme weather that the region has been facing in recent times.
It’s hoped that this latest achievement will help to raise awareness and understanding of just how important water recycling is in California and beyond.
An impressive 100,008 million gallons of clean drinking water was produced thanks to the GWRS, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the facility. Some ten million gallons of water each day is recycled by the GWRS to inject into the Orange County Groundwater Basin to increase drinking water supplies and help prevent seawater intrusion.
Commenting on the news, Greg Sebourn – OCSD board chairman – said: “This is a time to celebrate and learn about this proven technology that is so vital to sustaining our communities and our natural environment. We have the technology now to produce safe drinking water that ensures long-term reliability of local supplies.”
And climate expert Bill Patzert made further observations, saying that for more than 100 years the state of California has had to rely on certain rivers for its water. But this new achievement shows that there are new rivers to use and it makes “perfect sense to use the technology at our disposal to use the water “right in our backyard” and recycle it so it can be drunk.
As a business, one of the best and most efficient ways to save money where water is concerned is actually through recycling. This process involves using the discarded water from typical everyday activities like irrigation, vehicle washing and toilet flushing to help save money on valuable mains water.
There are already water companies out there, such as Anglian Water, that use recycling systems to make better use of wastewater. They clean it up and return it to the rivers, where it can then be reused for irrigation and even drinking water once it has been treated.
It could certainly be beneficial for your company to prioritise water recycling strategies in the future, particularly if you work in a sector like leisure and hospitality where lots of water is used on a daily basis. In fact, you could even save yourself up to 50 per cent on water costs by recycling – a fact that’s certainly not to be sneezed at.
Here at H2O Building Services, we operate a nationwide consultancy service to help you save money on your water bills, whether it’s through recycling, repairing leaks or validating supplier rates. If you’d like to find out any more about any of the services we can provide, do get in touch with the friendly and experienced team today.