A different take on cleaning up water

We just finished giving all of Superior's 5th graders a tour of our wastewater treatment plant. They seemed to enjoy it and we enjoyed having them here. It is important that the next generation understands the water flushed down the toilet or water draining down a sink goes somewhere. Luckily, it comes here, but what if you were to treat all of your own wastewater? Could you do it? The Cedar Grove Cheese factory in Plain, WI does!

Cedar Grove Cheese uses a process called "Living Machine" to naturally clean up all the washwater produced in the cheese-making process. It is a 3-4 day process that uses microbes and hydroponic plants. That is pretty cool, the water that leaves is then cleaner than the water that came in to the factory. It would be pretty interesting if we were to use something similar, but we do process about 1,000 times more water a day than at Cedar Grove. 

On related note . . . did you take a look at Google's homepage image today? The image was created by their "Doodle 4 Google 2014" winner that shows a "transformative water purifier." It is an invention that turns dirty and polluted water into clean water.