Rethinking Water

Music; Ambience: Water bubbling

Can we rethink the way we use water? I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. David Orr is Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College.

Orr: This is basically, a wetland or marsh that does what wetlands do. It purifies water. There are no chemicals involved here no chlorine or aluminum salts or anything else that are typically used in wastewater treatment and also have side effects of being carcinogenic. And this is simply a natural process that’s been at work here for 12 years, never had a problem, and it’s a sewage treatment plant right in the middle of a building, and it looks and smells like a tropical greenhouse.

Oberlin’s Adam Joseph Lewis Center was designed in 1995 as one of the first completely green buildings. It produces power via solar energy and its wastewater system proves that there are sustainable ways to treat water without chemicals.

Orr: This is the wastewater treatment system. It’s called a living machine, and we’re in a building with a glass roof. So, there’s daylight coursing in from the the top and the side walls. There are four large tanks in front of us that have plants growing on them, and this is processing wastewater. And so, wastewater comes in, and plants do what plants do. They take out phosphorous, and they take out nitrogen, and the water goes through a series of four tanks and back through a gravel bed. It when you look at it, it’s like looking at a tropical greenhouse. What occurs is a natural biotic process. So, it’s taking what occurs naturally in nature and doing it within the built environment to meet human needs and stripping out all the waste.

David Orr’s work has inspired The Oberlin Project where an entire town becomes a prototype for a sustainable future. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.

Rethinking Water

Can nature teach us sustainable ways to filter our wastewater?

Air Date:01/28/2015

Scientist:

Transcript:

Rethinking Water

Music; Ambience: Water bubbling

Can we rethink the way we use water? I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. David Orr is Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College.

Orr: This is basically, a wetland or marsh that does what wetlands do. It purifies water. There are no chemicals involved here no chlorine or aluminum salts or anything else that are typically used in wastewater treatment and also have side effects of being carcinogenic. And this is simply a natural process that's been at work here for 12 years, never had a problem, and it's a sewage treatment plant right in the middle of a building, and it looks and smells like a tropical greenhouse.

Oberlin's Adam Joseph Lewis Center was designed in 1995 as one of the first completely green buildings. It produces power via solar energy and its wastewater system proves that there are sustainable ways to treat water without chemicals.

Orr: This is the wastewater treatment system. It's called a living machine, and we're in a building with a glass roof. So, there's daylight coursing in from the the top and the side walls. There are four large tanks in front of us that have plants growing on them, and this is processing wastewater. And so, wastewater comes in, and plants do what plants do. They take out phosphorous, and they take out nitrogen, and the water goes through a series of four tanks and back through a gravel bed. It when you look at it, it's like looking at a tropical greenhouse. What occurs is a natural biotic process. So, it's taking what occurs naturally in nature and doing it within the built environment to meet human needs and stripping out all the waste.

David Orr's work has inspired The Oberlin Project where an entire town becomes a prototype for a sustainable future. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.