Americans flush toilets with water that's good enough to drink. We could cut how much water cities need if we reused that water, or flushed without sapping our fresh mountain supplies. From at-home solutions to citywide scale, wastewater reuse and recycling are gaining momentum, and could be on the verge of a breakthrough. Part 6 of a 10-part series.
For more CPR News coverage of the Colorado River, visited cpr.org/parched.
Host: Michael Elizabeth Sakas
Written by Rachel Estabrook
Editors: Erin Jones, Joe Wertz
Production and Mixing: Rebekah Romberg
Theme song by Kibwe Cooper. Additional music via Universal Production Music.
Artwork: Maria Juliana Pinzón
Executive Producers: Kevin Dale, Brad Turner
Additional Editorial Support: Alison Borden, Kibwe Cooper, Jo Erickson, Luis Antonio Perez, Taylar Dawn Stagner, Andrew Villegas
Thanks also to Sarah Bures, Hart Van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Kim Nguyen, Clara Shelton, Arielle Wilson.
Parched is a production of the Climate Solutions team of CPR News and Colorado Public Radio’s Audio Innovations Studio — part of the NPR Network.
Justin Fox, owner of Carlsbad Solar in Carlsbad, California, stands among surfboards in his garage, Jan. 24, 2023. Behind him at right is a refrigerator-sized appliance made by Hydraloop, that recycles gray water. He’s a salesman for the units.
A refrigerator-sized appliance, made by Hydraloop, that recycles gray water, stands next to the washer and dryer in the garage of Justin Fox, in Carlsbad, California, Jan. 24, 2023.
Fernando Ramirez, the U.S. managing director for Hydraloop, in Carlsbad, California, Jan. 24, 2023. Hydraloop makes a refrigerator-sized appliance that recycles gray water.
South Platte River water arrives at the Peter D. Binney Purification Plant near Aurora Reservoir in Aurora, Colorado, March 23, 2023. The water is pumped from 17 wells along the South Platte River Banks, 34 miles away, into the holing bay pictured here, where floating plastic devices help minimize algae from growing. pipeline to the three pumping stations. It is further sent to the Peter D. Binney Purification Facility located near the Aurora Reservoir. From there it's pumped into the purification process, advanced ultraviolet light oxidation, filtration, and activated carbon absorption. The purified water is then pumped into the Aurora water supply.
Aurora Water’s Greg Baker stands near a frame of ultraviolet light tubes that will be inserted into the pipe behind, where the light is used as part of the water purification process at Peter D. Binney Purification Plant near Aurora Reservoir in Aurora, Colorado, March 23, 2023. The water there is pumped from 17 wells along the South Platte River Banks, 34 miles away.
Swirvine Nyirenda, who works in strategic and long-range planning for Aurora Water, at the Peter D. Binney Purification Plant near Aurora Reservoir in Aurora, Colorado, March 23, 2023. The water there is pumped from 17 wells along the South Platte River Banks, 34 miles away, into a purification system that uses ultraviolet light oxidation, filtration, and activated carbon absorption.
