Recently at the Telus World of Science I learned that in space astronauts are allowed 23 litres of water each which is very little compared to the 300 litres that a North American uses and not quite so little compared to the 130 litres that a German uses per day. Anyway, it's hard to imagine but the technology is there to recycle urine and turn it into drinking water. In today's newspaper there's an article about Don Pettit from the International Space Station. The daily allowance for hygiene and food is 3.5 litres per person. OMG, how do they do it? They wash themselves with wet wipes and have a water-recycling machine that collects even breath, sweat and water from a damp cloths which then can be used again. The most fascinating part is the urine-diversion toilet I'd say. Cecilia Ruben from the Stockholm Environment Institute says that there's 2 million of these toilets in China. Germany, South Africa ,Vietnam and Sweden have some as well. Combine them with a compost part for faeces and it's all been taken care off.
More facts on water use in Canada: http://www.janegoodall.ca/project-blue/WaterinCanada.html
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