Cooling Off With a Nice, Tall Glass of Toilet Water

Pastor Bob McCartney of First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, Tex., tries his best to love his neighbor as himself. But even he draws the line at drinking water that once went down his neighbor’s toilet. The city of about 104,000, suffering the worst drought in 140 years, will soon become the first in the U.S. to treat household sewage and pump the water right back into residents’ homes. “The idea is a bit grotesque,” says McCartney, who’s led prayer vigils for rain. People in town say they’ll buy more bottled water and try not to think about what’s flowing through their pipes when they bathe, brush their teeth, and make soup.

A sun-baked ranch town that hosts the Hotter’N Hell Hundred endurance bike ride each August, Wichita Falls is awaiting final state approval to begin recycling 5 million gallons a day starting in May, says Teresa Rose, deputy public works director. That’s about a third of what the town uses. Rose says the water will be safe and that all traces of sewage will be removed. Household wastewater will first go to a plant that filters out solids, the same way it’s now treated before being piped back into the Wichita River. Next, microfiltration will remove additional waste, followed by reverse osmosis to destroy any remaining contaminants, including pharmaceuticals flushed down toilets. In the final step, the water will go to the same plant that cleans lake water, where it’s chemically treated to kill pathogens. Add standard amounts of chlorine and fluoride, and it’s ready for the faucet.