When Flushing Doesn’t Take it Away
Posted in Weird Science on August 10th, 2007 by Erin DietrichWhen I flush the toilet I like to think everything is magically carried away. Don’t you? Yes, I know there are waste water treatment plants and a whole process behind disposal, but I still like to think my waste just magically disappears. Unbenownst to me, a lot of information can be garnered from your waste and Swiss scientists are taking advantage of it. I am not talking what you ate for breakfast or how well your colon is working, but something a bit more surprising.
Swiss scientists are doing the dirty job of using human sewage to study recreational drug usage. Wired magazine reports that for five months scientists used waste water from treatment plants in Milan, Italy and Lugano, Switzerland and tested it for illicit substances, including methamphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, heroin and morphine. What they found was that meth and cocaine use spike on Fridays and Saturdays and overall drug consumption was almost TWICE as high as official estimates.
For now, studies are limited to city treatment plants, but I wonder if they could specify the research to a neighborhood, or eventually a house. Would this be a violation of ones civil liberties? I wonder what other information our waste might hold. Who knew one day we may be fighting to keep our waste private!
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August 10th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Waste not, want not?
Sorry, first thing that came to mind. I imagine that they could do that, but they would have to install the testing equipment between the main line from your home and the line going into the city’s sewer system… it’s highly unlikely they would go to the trouble and expense necessary to do so unless they had a very good reason… and I don’t think “recreational drug use” is likely to qualify as a good enough reason.
August 10th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Oh I agree, but one never knows…
August 10th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
You may be interested in an entertaining Australian film called “Kenny” released in August 2006. It was about a man who worked for a waste disposal company. This documentary-style movie is an eye-opener when it comes to what happens behind the scenes of “port-apotty” events and where the truck goes after the event…
August 10th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
It wouldn’t bother me. I was once on national TV talking about my drug use (many years ago). No need to go poking through my poop, just check the ABC archives :p
August 11th, 2007 at 7:34 am
Liara, that sounds interesting! I’ll see if I can find the film in the states.
Mark, what in the world were you doing talking about your drug use on TV?
August 11th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
I volunteered to participate in a current affairs mini-documentary about the dance music scene.
August 12th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Ah, makes a little more sense.
August 12th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
I’m currently in the USA working on a project. I’ve been over here from the UK several times and I’ve always been careful about using your toilets here as they seem to block up very easily. I’ve ended up flushing several times just to make sure that I don’t block anything (I’ll let you think about that for a while).
Also, the cubicles in offices and public places don’t give a lot of privacy. I assume that’s because workers can’t be trusted, or perhaps it’s just my British reserve.
August 12th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Yes, toilets in countries other than one’s own can be tough, can’t they? When traveling abroad I have had to ask how to flush the darn thing. Another time I did some investigative work to figure out why there were often footprints on the seat - turns out they stood/squatted on the seat instead of sat. Toilet etiquette is so fun, and funny!
Sorry about the low cube walls. I don’t know what the deal with that is.
August 12th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Speaking of figuring out how to flush the darn thing, have you ever been to Japan? If not, imagine a toilet with about eight buttons instead of the usual two… Thankfully most have pictures which you can figure out as well as kanji, which you can’t (unless you can read Japanese or Chinese). And I couldn’t help but giggle when I saw the one of the water squirting at a bum…
And on the topic of sitting versus squatting, I’ve heard that squatting is more anatomically agreeable, and that some people develop health problems which can be alleviated simply by squatting instead of sitting. No idea how much truth there is to that.
August 13th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Ha ha - I’ve been to Japan - but confined to the airport, so I haven’t seen the 8 buttons. I sure hope the squirting water is fresh and not what was just deposited. Eww….
I have heard the same thing about squatting and child birth. It’s a wonder we ever stopped these things. Maybe society is just too civilized. Ack!
August 14th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
China, Taiwan… toilet situation too dismal to report. Did you know that you don’t flush toilet paper on an island instead throw it in a trash can??
I say good for the Japanese with the multibutton squirting toilets!
August 14th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I learned to throw toilet paper in the garbage can the hard way in Greece.
In Sweden they have two buttons (a bit simpler than Japan). One for a light flush and another for a heavier sweep. Unlike the United States (I don’t know about other countries on this one), they have different water going to their toilets. Why clean it to a drinkable level when it is just toilet water? Makes sense to me, maybe not to dogs though…
August 15th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
We have two buttons as standard here in Australia, and everywhere in Europe that I’ve been. I thought that was standard everywhere in the Western world…
August 15th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Apparently not, huh? I guess our huge levels of consumption are carried all the way to our toilet bowl. Do you have different water for toilets or the same?
August 16th, 2007 at 4:51 am
Nah it’s the same water. Since we’re in the middle of a drought (and have a history of droughts) you’d think they’d change that wouldn’t you? Though I guess it would cost a hell of a lot to set up that kind of system, and would require work at every single building. Logistics nightmare!