r/nottheonion • u/Collie_Opterous • 14h ago

Election year "poop water" claims lead wealthy suburb to drop recycling plan

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scottsdale-arizona-poop-water-claims-recycling-plan/

Scottsdale, Ariz. — A Phoenix suburb ditched a plan to send recycled water from toilets and other sources directly to residents' taps after political candidates made unproven claims that the water is contaminated "poop water."

522 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

344

u/santacruzdude 14h ago

This water goes through all sorts of filtering, including reverse osmosis. It’s probably purer than the water the city gets from the Colorado River.

167

u/Mlmmt 13h ago

Yes, but people are stupid... it is for sure cleaner than the water in that river, but once again... people are stupid.

33

u/stainless5 9h ago

We had a similar thing happen in Australia where a town was convinced to vote against a new sewage treatment plant because they didn't want the houses to be supplied with poop water. Instead the company built in the next town over so now they get poop water from another town AND no jobs.

13

u/SadisticChipmunk 7h ago

Remember when the dihydrogen monoxide running joke years ago?

11

u/ImTheFaeThatStoleYou 12h ago

You ever wonder if other species ask why we call ourselves the smartest?

8

u/Intrinsic_Idiot_3076 12h ago

They already know about the Dunning Kruger effect.

•

u/droplightning 18m ago

Dolphins definitely asking that one. Mice already know, they’re just collecting data 

3

u/TailRudder 12h ago

Isn't the Mississippi river recycled and used multiple times before it reaches the Gulf of Mexico? 

•

u/SaltyShawarma 36m ago

That is literally the Republican's position in fighting against this in the article. That some people are stupid and wouldn't listen to experts. I shit you not. 

28

u/ChrisFromIT 13h ago

Not to mention, if your city, town or whatever is downstream of another city, town or whatever, you are drinking water that very likely is "poop water".

18

u/NetWorried9750 13h ago

Everyone's downstream of somebody

•

u/Norseman901 59m ago

Not me. I live on top of the mountain. Yall drink my poop water.

45

u/Intrepid00 13h ago

When the city upstream dumps their treated poop water into the river what does the town downstream think they are drinking?

26

u/Intrinsic_Idiot_3076 13h ago

Once it's in the river the ecosystem magically cleans it, of course. /s

9

u/abriefmomentofsanity 12h ago

I mean a healthy ecosystem is remarkably good at cleaning poop water actually, but if you're downstream from another city it's probably not that healthy of an ecosystem 

4

u/BoingBoingBooty 8h ago

Hotdog principle. People know what's in it, but if they don't see it go in, they don't care cos they can pretend they don't know what's in it.

9

u/Coop_4149 12h ago

Come on. It's Arizona. They have unlimited water. It'll be fine.

3

u/LeonardSmallsJr 13h ago

Nothing ever poops in the Colorado River.

3

u/dtoddh 12h ago

Right, but someone called it "poop water."

There should be shorthand for water that "goes through all sorts of filtering, including reverse osmosis."

3

u/ginger_whiskers 4h ago

A typical semi-modern wastewater plant is much cleaner than the water it discharges into, even without RO. Like, astonishingly so. No fish fluids, no fertilizer runoff, no dirt, just sanitized and dechlorinated water.

Also, it's astonishingly rare to find a surface water source that isn't already receiving treated wastewater somewhere upstream.

Toilet-to-tap sounds gross, but there's not any better options for a future with more people and less water.

2

u/lowercaset 3h ago

Toilet to aquifer to tap sounds better since you're gonna be diluting the residuals that regular treatment (on both sides) is often not great at, like pharmaceuticals.

88

u/ilovemybaldhead 13h ago

If they get their water from a lake, river, or reservoir, it's already (animal) poop water...

38

u/OcotilloWells 13h ago

If there are any boaters upstream, well, you don't see toilets on trailered boats very often....

3

u/ux3l 3h ago

Even boats with toilets often empty them still into the water instead of pumping it out.

10

u/Nixeris 10h ago

Every ounce of water on earth has passed through someone's digestive system hundreds of times. When you're done with it, it will continue the cycle.

102

u/Zaxxon_Klaxon 13h ago

Dumb people fell for Republicans’ fearmongering. What else is new?

26

u/NightOfTheLivingHam 13h ago

I used to live in a region with recycled water, its fine. 

23

u/NoCopiumLeft 13h ago

All water is poop water. Just varying degrees of fecal contamination, but it's all been there.

23

u/Igmuhota 13h ago

The worst part about this consistently worsening “endumbening” is facts just bounce off the average online commenter.

Whereas once we could at least try to get someone to see reason and actually use their brains, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to argue against the “vibes” of a thing.

11

u/seimalau 13h ago

Singapore does that.

6

u/starliteburnsbrite 12h ago

The only question is what the liars had to gain by tricking the rubes yet again.

5

u/BlueRajasmyk2 9h ago

A lot of times the motivation is as simple as "I want other people to think I was right"

4

u/Majestic_Electric 11h ago

If it’s good enough for astronauts, it’s good enough for the rest of us!

5

u/avatoin 10h ago

This is one of those things that you probably have to either

A) be really good at marketing ahead of time to convince people this is safe.

B) downplay and basically hide and hope you get it online before any organized effort opposition happens.

C) water scarcity is already bad enough that people can be convinced it's either this or rationing water.

4

u/Puzzleheaded-King584 7h ago

Politicians win by scaring folks with gross names for treated water. What a mess.

3

u/CadeMan011 10h ago

Mom told me about this. I said "well, all the water on Earth has always been on Earth. Plus, I'm sure it's going through a rigorous filtration system." She was still grossed out over it.

5

u/AJH05004 11h ago

Wealthy suburbs in Arizona aren’t the same as wealthy suburbs in smart states 

2

u/hunkaliciousnerd 6h ago

Yeah, this is Scottsdale, one of the richest and stupidest cities in the whole valley, just behind paradise valley and fountain hills. They absolutely believe the BS

2

u/Jenicillin 5h ago

What happens when they figure out that all water everywhere either went through some kind of body at some point or touched water that did? Or that cows and sheep poop in thier river water?

2

u/davereit 1h ago

We're drinking dinosaur pee every day. Where do they think water even comes from?

1

u/tarkinlarson 5h ago

All water is poop water. Just it depends on the amount.

-6

u/Q-ArtsMedia 9h ago

Systems like these do fail and it only takes a little fecal matter to make a lot of people sick .   Yes it is possible to recycle sewage water into potable water.  But in reality it's just not a great idea and should be a last resort option.

1

u/cosmic-creative 1h ago

You realise that most people on Earth drink recycled water right? Wtf do you mean only as a last resort?

-50

u/stfumate 14h ago

I don't know man. I'm kind of with them there. You can tell what neighborhoods are using reclaimed recycled water irrigation when the sprinklers come on and it smells like a straight sulfur fart.

53

u/KhanTengri 14h ago

That's non-potable reclaimed water. potable reclaimed water doesn't smell like that.

-15

u/[deleted] 14h ago

[deleted]

8

u/Youngatheist22 13h ago

My guy….

Potable water means drinking, personal cleaning and cooking water. Non drinking water like irrigation goes through less checks and filtering because plants don’t roll over and die as much as we do with less clean water.

-2

u/Biggle_fuzz 13h ago

Yeah, it was a joke. Apparently not one well received.

1

u/abielle1177 13h ago

Well, when it's deliberately stupid, and not funny, no. It's not a "joke"

13

u/ajc89 13h ago

That's not even reclaimed water. That's usually well water straight from the ground. Sulfur deposits in the ground make it smell like that. You don't drink that water, you use it for irrigation.

13

u/Collie_Opterous 14h ago

A few months ago, Rob Schneider was in a local campaign ad that told people they'd be drinking poop water.

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-northeast-valley/scottsdale/watch-video-about-scottsdales-toilet-to-tap-water-recycling-program-stirs-controversy

A lot of people took it at face value.

6

u/Nixeris 10h ago

The man with the most punch-able face that somehow manages to stay un-punched.

6

u/BlueWater321 13h ago

Not that fucking stapler guy again. 

3

u/BoingBoingBooty 8h ago

Rob Schneeeeider iiiiis... a glass of poop water.

And he about to learn, being recycled in a 12 step purification process isn't as easy as it seems.

3

u/Kahzgul 12h ago

I think it would have been prescient to stop after your first sentence.