Water Is Liquid Gold

Louis G. Laframboise | Oct 26, 2017

I felt a need to respond and share information surrounding the issue of septic system failure and the treatment of our water, or, as I prefer to refer to it as, liquid gold. Droughts that we have been experiencing of late (climate wierding generally) and the near-global trend of having to drill deeper and deeper for water gives reason to initiate different perspectives and strategies for opting out of water-based sanitation systems. Why? The technology pollutes—even from the outset, in newly installed systems.

Why are we wasting and abusing our potable, sweet, drinking, water to flush our 'wastes' away? Tell me where this magical place "away" is anyways. Dilution--which is what is occuring with toilets, septic systems and centralised sewage/drinking water systems— is not the solution. In cities, municipalities or other centralized water delivery systems, people are sending fecal matter into their own drinking water. 'Waste' is an unappreciated, unseen, misunderstood or out-of-place resource which we have not yet found a use for. ‘

The concept of waste does not exist in nature. Let us learn from, and mimic, nature (biomimicry). There are numerous studies showing that septic systems pollute and can even spread pathogens, including a recent study from Michigan State University. These same pollutants and nutrients also originate from the "lowly" countryside outhouse: try to imagine or visualise this subterranean, below-grade, plume of ecojewels (sectoral flow) as it leaches or disperses away from the outhouse footprint—both depth and width. Is the soil sand or clay based?

“If I urinated into a pitcher of drinking water and then proceeded to quench my thirst from the pitcher, I would undoubtedly be considered crazy. If I invented an expensive technology to put my urine and feces into my drinking water, and then invented another expensive (and undependable) technology to make the same water fit to drink, I might be thought even crazier. It is not inconceivable that some psychiatrist would ask me knowingly why I wanted to mess up my drinking water in the first place.” - Wendell Berry

To be truly ecological and realise our embededness in, and dependence on, nature, one need not use the precious gift of water (liquid gold) for flushing humanure and other so-called wastes away. One reason why we should be moving away from water as transporter in our sanitation systems is that water is the central culprit in the spreading of "water- borne diseases"*, toxins, pollutants.

Instead of a septic system, consider using a compo(o)st(ing) toilet, dry toilet or soil toilet. There are numerous additional ways of regeneratively dealing with our 'waste' streams. If you are still convinced of the necessity of a water-based conveyance system, there are many bioremediation systems which can purify this, including ones based on the synergy between plants, microorganisms, fish perhaps, and other elements of a passive solar design.

As a stepping stone to that brighter, cleaner future, you can periodically add a small amount of biochar to your septic tank via your toilet. The extremely high surface area of biochar and its fractal nature helps to adsorb, absorb, neutralise, chelate or sequester all manner of toxins, pathogens, nutirents, pollutants, odors,... originating from the water-delivery system.

Louis G. Laframboise