politics of chlorine

[William S. Lear]

On Monday, June 7, 1999 at 19:30:08 (-0700) Michael Perelman writes:
>John Todd of the New Alchemy Institute has developed very interesting
>non-chlorine, biological methods of water using (living, not
>constructed) plants for purification.
>
>alex lantsberg wrote:
>>...
>> i'm pretty sure that there are ways to disinfect water without
>> chlorine.  i know for a fact that there are ways to treat it.
>>
>> the problem is that most urban sewage systems are the type that need
>> to rely on engineering processes and an industrial
>> infrastructure--which in turn means big government contracts, taxing
>> mechanisms, and those wonderful municipal bonds!

If nobody has mentioned this, Rachel's Environmental Weekly had a
recent e-handout on the history of sewage in the US.  One of the big
problems, as one might guess, is the industrial pollutants that get
mixed in with the more benign effluvia, making treatment much more
difficult and expensive.

Bill