wastewater

Desalinization technology has long been trapped between two competing nightmare scenarios. Without desalination, fresh water resources run out and large swaths of the earth suffer crippling water shortages. But if we desalinate on a large scale, we keep burning fossil fuels, the earth warms, the ice caps melt, and sea levels rise to wreak havoc on coastal regions.

It’s no secret that cleaning up an oil spill is a difficult task. When most of us think of oil spills, we think of incidents like the Exxon Valdez accident, which released more than 10 million gallons of oil into the Prince William Sound in 1989. But what we don’t think about are the more than 200 million gallons of used oil that pollute U.S. wastewater every year after being dumped into sewers, streams and landfills.

Officials in Los Angeles said today that they're going to reconsider a water conservation proposal that won't just ask residents to change their habits, but calls for recycling wastewater, too.

The plan would place restrictions on watering lawns and washing cars, and it would encourage residents to switch to less thirsty washing machines. But the most controversial part of the initiative would involve recycling water - refilling underground drinking supplies with treated wastewater. Los Angeles has tried this before, but critics forced officials to drop it.

Now, though, city officials say improvements in recycling technology make it a viable option.

Jörg Rieckermann snaps on a pair of purple rubber gloves, picks up a crowbar, and levers a manhole cover out of the way. Heres my access to the underworld, Rieckermann, who speaks with a faint German accent, says as he hoists up a barrel-shaped robot suspended above a stream of raw sewage.