March/April 1984 RAIN Page 7 ACCESS: Waste Future Water, by John Sheaffer and Leonard Stevens, 1983,269 pp., $14.95 hardcover from: William Morrow & Company 105 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Like a massive ice block ready to calve off a glacier and crash into a calm fjord, America's water crisis looms over us. As both urban and rural aquifers are increasingly depleted and contaminated by toxic wastes, our sewage treatment plants pump away resources: food-growing resources, energy resources, economic resources. In fact, the evidence that Future Water presents for whole-system use of "wastewater" makes conversion of almost any municipal treatment plant a cost-effective must. The public's and engineers' arguments for the linear-dilution solution to the sewage question have been, the authors claim, largely unsubstantiated fears and unknowns. In fact, vigorously aerating sewage in lagoons, storing it in settling ponds, and then irrigating crops with the resulting nutrient-rich water eliminates undesirable odors and health dangers. Since 1974, Muskegon County, Michigan, has fertilized over 5300 acres of corn -with partially purified effluent at a yield of 30 bushels per acre above that of the rest of the county. The corn is sold as feed and generates over $1 million for the county annually. Moreover, the living soil filter effectively removes over 125 chemicals from the county's industries with "no contamination detected in the corn crop," a study concludes. After irrigation, an underground drainage system collects the purified water—ready to drink. The hot news is that a "biomass utility" is being planned for the Chicago Center for Industry. Based on a study by Chicago's Center for Neighborhood Technology, the circular sewage conversion system will make $4.1 million yearly from sales of electricity and steam from methane, ethyl alcohol, greenhouse vegetables and ornamentals, potting soil, and compost. Before long, local public servants as well as informed taxpayers will be arguing that, as the authors concede, "wastewater disposal is detrimental to economic growth." By the way, where does your community's "wastewater" go? —KN Work from Waste; Recycling Wastes to Create Employment, by Jon Vogler, 1981, 396 pp., inquire for price from: ITDG/NA Publications Office PO Box 337 Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 This is a how-to book for people in developing countries on starting a wasterecycling business. The first part of the book describes the different types of waste material, who discards it, who buys it, what can be sold, and the relative value of different types of waste within a given category. Each chapter also includes descriptions of required storage, safe handling procedures, waste sorting, and low-tech, hand-operated processing equipment. In the second section, Vogler outlines general procedures and analysis for arranging to pick up waste, hiring collectors, the relative merits of different types of transportation, marketing strategies, options on sorting, and bargaining. This book contains a wealth of knowledge on waste collecting and handling, with good and easy-to-follow guidelines on making business decisions. The only problem I found with the book is that it was sometimes hard to determine who the intended audience is. For example, at one point, Vogler suggests that you should find someone who can read and write to help you start your business. — Gail Katz Gail Katz works as a mechanical and electrical engineer in Portland. Dead Tech: A Guide to the Archeology of Tomorrow, photos by Manfred Hamm, text by Rolf Steinberg, 1983,132 pp., $14.95 from: Sierra Club Books 2034 Fillmore Street San. Francisco, CA 94115 There are tons of steel and miles of concrete illustrated in the pages of this book. The ruins of wars and simple recreation lie still beside the remnants of dated industrialism. Old gas works and collieries and derelict nuclear power ContThe Components of a Modem Land Treatment System \ SewCT Main from l\ r*rktnmiinifu Biological Treatment Cell Station j. Nutrients returr»ed to food Chain Storage Lagoon to stream or for Reuse Purified Water Collected below soil surface From: Future Water
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