The Possibility of Launching a New Eco-friendly Water drink made from Recycled Water - Literature review Example

TITLE Name of Author Name of class Name of Professor Name of school Date The Possibility of Launching a New Eco-friendly Water drink made from Recycled Water Introduction Recycled water refers to former wastewater which is treated in a bid to remove solid and non-solid impurities. Water recycling is done for sustainability and for conservation of surface waters which include lakes, rivers and oceans. Water is recycled from rain water (water captured from roofs), storm-water (rainwater which has since reached the ground and other hard surfaces such as roads), grey-water (water from baths, showers and kitchens) treated effluent (water from sewage treatment plants) and industrial wastewater (water that has been used in various processes in an industry) (Schafer, 2009, 4). Recycled water can be used in any water related application as long as it has been treated to levels that make it suitable for the intended purposes. This means that the recycled water must be fit for the particular purpose from a health perspective as well as an environmental perspective. Potential health risks include: Microbial pathogens which may carry infections, endocrine disrupting chemicals which affect normal endocrine function in animals and pharmaceutical chemicals and metabolites that raise various health issues. Environmental risks include: Salinity, sodicity, chlorine residues, hydraulic loading and surfactants (active agents from detergents). The risks that are associated with recycled water should thus be reduced to acceptable levels before this water is used for whatever purpose. In many situations, the health and environmental risks are manageable by the level of wastewater management or by carefully managing the uses of that water. The purposes of this water must also be sustainable in the long run as it may be uneconomical for certain uses (Anderson, 2013, 6). The food and beverage industries consume a lot of water in their day-to-day operations, with the beverage industry particularly consuming more than 11 tonnes of water per 1 tonne of product. Most of this water is used in the cleaning and washing operations and thus presents great opportunities for reclaiming and recycling (Jefferson, 2003, 159). The food and beverage industries generally do not use recycled water as an ingredient in their products or let it come into contact with the products. This is more of a public perception and marketing issue, in the very same way that recycling sewage effluents to get water for potable use has significant public acceptance problems. People generally have dogmatic resistance to consuming products made with recycled water. Since a lot of water in industries doesn’t go into the products, many opportunities exist for recycling and reuse. However, this recycled water which is of potable quality, is not used as an ingredient in most industries and may only be used for washing the product and/or the product containers. Still, there is reluctance to use the recycled water even in these duties (Jefferson, 2003, 160). The issue of drinking recycled water derived from highly contaminated waste water such as sewage is a proposition that is emotionally hard as it is scientifically feasible. However, water recycling technologies available today make it a possibility to reach any quality desired by the users and also for regulatory compliance. Such technologies have made possible for the city of Windhoek in Namibia to use recycled sewage water for drinking, without any health risks. It is worth noting that it has since been scientifically established that available technology can minimize microbial and chemical contaminants to levels lower than those found in most of the currently existing drinking water supplies (Jefferson, 2003, 166). This means that, from a scientific and technological standpoint, it is feasible to make a beverage or solid food product using recycled water of high quality. However, many other considerations will have to be made Cost In making a water drink from recycled water, apart from the usual costs of setting up a modest beverage factory, there will be the cost of water recycling. Since the required water should be potable it should thus be of high quality. This will involve incurring a number of costs. The first costs are the recycled water direct costs. These include all ongoing and upfront expenditures required to construct and operate the recycling scheme. The costs will vary depending on a myriad of factors, such as the levels of treatments, cost of distribution the land used and the economics of scale. The actual costs include: The design, construction and commissioning of recycling infrastructures, cost of carbon emissions, odour buffers and land requirements. The level of treatment is tied to the quality of the wastewater source, which could be a tertiary or secondary plant or the water drink factory’s processes. The land used will depend on the size of the treatment plant. The economy of scale refers to the fact that the unit costs of waste water treatment will be higher if treatment is small scale, as compared to a larger scale scheme (Pickering, 2013, 22). The second costs are the indirect service delivery costs. These incremental service costs include: Any form of modifications and/or additions required for the water treatment and the distribution systems for accommodating the recycled water, the marginal costs of administration required for supporting the whole scheme including compliance, monitoring and maintenance. In analyzing costs, one must not only look at the costs incurred, but also the costs saved, which could reflect on the benefits of recycling the water. The first of these are the environment/community costs. In a situation where no recycling exists, the waste water is normally disposed into rivers and oceans illegally. Still, if the water is recycled and has no immediate use, it is still disposed to the rivers and oceans and considered not a resource, but a pollutant. However, in well structured circumstances, this treated waste water can be used for other alternatives, such as utilizing it for different purposes, such as irrigation within the surrounding communities. It could as well be sold to potential users for an agreed price. If the treated water is discharged to inland water systems or infiltrated into the groundwater, it goes on to boost natural water supplies without harming the environment (Pickering, 2013, 24). Another cost saved is in the use- value of the recycled water. This arises from the fact that the recycled water substitutes the potable water that would have been used in its place. The value of the potable water that could have been used should be subtracted from the use value for one to realize the cost saved in using the recycled water. Another thing to consider is that recycled water might be more reliable than the potable water, and this can be expressed in economic terms (Pickering, 2013, 24). The other cost avoided is the cost of conveyance and disposal of waste water. However, just as in calculating avoided water costs, the avoided wastewater costs do not include fixed costs that do not change with water recycling e.g pumping and storage costs. Apart from the costs analyzed above, it is important to discuss costs related to technological needs and marketing requirements. With various treatment technologies in existence, new contaminants and strict regulations to consider, choosing the right way of doing this will be overwhelming. To produce high quality disinfected water, the best technology suited for this task must be sought. The costs could be very high, but there is no way around it. As for marketing costs, these arise from the fact that necessary measures will need to be taken, to ensure that the target consumers understand the quality and safety of the product. The water drink will need pre-advertisement and collection of appropriate feedback so as to gauge the public sentiments towards the whole thing (Anderson, 2013, 18). Public acceptance In order to meet the ever increasing demands of growing populations, recycling water including sewage effluent has become an alternative source of water in places like Australia and California. When such augmentation projects are put in place, it is not the technological and technical breakthroughs that determine whether implementation is successful or not. Success primarily will come from the acceptance of the proposal within the community. It is thus very important to be informed of the public perception about such projects well before the actual commissioning and implementation. History has repeatedly shown that the level of public acceptance will prop up or kill a proposal that has controversial sentiments (Green, 2007, 11). Perceptions regarding water recycling and its uses vary from region to region and also change with time. In most cases, the prevailing public perceptions are only determinable by using quantitative and qualitative research methods. Examples of qualitative methods include focus groups and interviews, which help in identification of key issues. Such issues raised by the public could be questions about the safety of the water for consumption and manufacture of products using the same. In a further step, surveys can be carried out to establish the individual prevalence of the identified issues amongst the general populace. Studies have been carried out extensively to investigate public perceptions and the acceptance of recycled water and products made of the same, in place like Australia, USA and Africa (Green, 2007, 27). A number of generalized conclusions have since been drawn from old as well as recent studies into this issue, although one must bear in mind that the levels of agreement and acceptance vary from location to location and the time of measurement: The general level of knowledge within the public about processes involved during water recycling and the pros and cons of the different approached is quite low. People will clearly discriminate against recycled water and its products in the presence of the usual potable water. Though acknowledging the eco-friendliness of recycled water, they raise health concerns about using recycled water for drinking and manufacture of beverages. This is despite the scientific proof that water can be recycled to a higher quality than found in the usual supplies of potable water. Different groups in the public will prefer different kinds of water, for the reason that they are concerned more with the environmental impact perceived or the potential health impact. The public opinion on recycled water and its perceived uses and non-uses can be modified by using proper methods of public education and persuasive marketing. Basically, it can thus concluded that proper analysis and understanding of public perceptions regarding water recycling and its use in beverages and foods is crucial, before any attempt is made to launch a new project. The policy makers at the public and industrial levels need to become aware of the simple fact that the general populace has little or no understanding and knowledge of how recycled water is produced and its potential potable uses. It is clear that such a lack of knowledge is a breeding ground for unjustified scare campaigns that go a long way to cause opposition, resulting in problems with acceptance (Green, 2007, 52). Nonetheless, even basic information about production processes of recycled water can help the public to understand how recycled water is produced to quality standards using proven scientific methods and cutting edge technologies. The provision of factual information will change perceptions and will increase the desired likelihood of use and acceptance. CONCLUSION Launching a new eco-friendly water drink made using recycled water is possible. However a number of factors will have to be considered, as discussed in the body above. The issue of acceptance by the public will need special attention if the project is to be successful. References Schafer, A., Escobar, I. C. ed., 2009. Sustainable Water for the Future: Water Recycling versus Desalination. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Anderson, J., Bahri, A., Asano, T. and Lazarova, V. ed., 2013. Milestones in Water Reuse: The Best Success Stories. London: IWA Publishing. Jefferson, B., Judd, S. ed., 2003. Membranes for Industrial Wastewater Recovery and Re-use. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Pickering, P., 2013. Economic viability of recycled water schemes. [online] November. Available at: http://www.australianwaterrecycling.com.au [Accessed 24 march 2014]. Green, D., 2007. Managing Water: Avoiding Crisis in California.LA: California. Read More