When most people imagine drinking toilet water, they probably gag.
That's supposed to the right response, but scientists want to make us think differently about the pool of water in our white bowl.
According to researchers: "people have to accept drinking water that comes directly from toilets."
Before we start doing that, we may have to drink filtered toilet water first, which is considered as safe to drink as the bottled water we buy at our local supermarket.
We have no choice but to get used to this idea, because this will be future, whether we like it or not.
So why should we be drinking toilet water? The argument better be convincing...
Research
A study conducted by researchers at the University of California found that toilet water tastes just like tap or bottled water, and it's actually better for you - once it's been recycled.
Approximately 150 volunteers tested unlabeled tap, bottle, and recycled sewage water and ranked which one tasted better.
The study discovered something very surprising: tap water was ranked last.
"The groundwater-based water was not as well liked as IDR or bottled water," Mary Guavain, co-author of the study, said. "We think that happened because IDR and bottled water go through remarkably similar treatment processes."
A Brighter Future?
Lead author of the study, Daniel Harmon, said "wastewater" sounds gross, which is why not a lot of people are willing to try it. That being said, this source of water may become very popular in the coming decade.
"It is important to make recycled water less scary to people who are concerned about it, as it is an important source of water now and in the future," Harmon said.
California is currently experiencing a drought, and there's no hope that the situation will improve in the coming years, considering the rapid rate of global warming.
But it's not only California that has a water shortage. Two-thirds of people in the world don't have access to enough safe drinking water, according to the Daily Mail.
In my opinion, the future of water is not as scary as it seems. Bottled water goes through the same treatment process as filtered sewage water, so it's not a big deal.
All we can hope for is that we still have fresh water on this planet that will be able to sustain billions of lives.
