Flush with Pride
An innovative system in one Californian city is turning wastewater into something pure enough to drink.
Residents of California’s Arcata City flush their toilets with pride. That is because their wastewater is purified by a pioneering system of marshes in a wildlife sanctuary, where plants and animals feed on the nutrients.
The innovative system was dreamt up by officials, professors and activists who wanted to build a low-cost sustainable sewage system for Arcata’s population. After initial treatment in a sewage plant where the sludge is separated off, the city’s wastewater travels through a network of oxidation ponds and marshes, before being let out into the nearby Humboldt Bay.
The sanctuary has transformed the city’s coastline, which was previously home to a landfill site and defunct industrial areas. Wildlife abounds and the water discharged into the bay is pure enough to drink.