Let them eat scrubbed! [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Haruki-kun

2011-06-17, 09:43 AM

Rising Phoenix

2011-06-17, 09:44 AM

Well if it helps all the water we drink was once upon a time urine... same goes for all the food we eat...only it's no. 2...

pendell

2011-06-17, 09:48 AM

Saw it, too. :smalltongue:

You know... they're claiming that once it's put on the market it would be priced "roughly the same as normal meat" but... I'm not sure how useful that would be. It would have to be priced like.... way lower than......

......I'm sorry, I can't finish my sentences, I just can't stop thinking about what I'm talking about. :smalleek:

If they get the price low enough, coming soon to a high school lunch program near you. It's organic! It's carbon friendly! And if they get the price low enough, it could be economic!

But yeah. If this reaches production, expect the first places to buy it will be institutions where the "customers" don't have any choice about what they eat. Prisons. Schools. Armed Forces.

I've heard about MREs. I'm curious as to whether food made from "sewage mud" would be an improvement or not.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Tirian

2011-06-17, 09:51 AM

Yup. And when it happens I'd rather not be told. I don't think I could eat anything knowing what it was.... >.<

How much of our current food supply is like that? Meat, eggs, milk, cheese, bread, honey, nearly everything is disgusting when you get down to the nubs.

But this is one that doesn't pass the giggle test even before the gag reflex. Human feces is not nutritious to humans, the entire point is that feces is what's left when everything that a human can process from food has been removed. The sensible process is the one that we've been doing for thousands of years, which is to use our feces to fertilize our fields to provide nutrients for crops that we can digest.

Crow

2011-06-17, 10:03 AM

I actually have it on the authority of dogs from all over the world, that poo tastes great!

Borgh

2011-06-17, 10:06 AM

get your facts straight before you yell anything guys (and that includes the commenter in the video) it is not poo, it is sewage mud, and that is not an euphemism. Sewage mud is what remains after the water treatment: it will have been digested twice, by aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. this is as much poo as anything you eat.

Its sad the burger hit the fan of sensationalism in this case, it is always good to see advances in recycling although I would start with feeding the artificial meat to more conventional livestock and slaughtering that.

pendell

2011-06-17, 10:10 AM

get your facts straight before you yell anything guys (and that includes the commenter in the video) it is not poo

I remind you that the scientist himself has a label on his refrigerator -- noted by our keen-eyed posters -- essentially describing the contents as [excrement] burgers.

If the original scientist sees it that way, I don't think we can blame the commenters or the makers of the video for drawing the same conclusion.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Crow

2011-06-17, 10:10 AM

Whiffet

2011-06-17, 10:32 AM

If they get the price low enough, coming soon to a high school lunch program near you. It's organic! It's carbon friendly! And if they get the price low enough, it could be economic!

Judging by the cheeseburgers we had to eat in my district, schools have been doing it for years already.

Actually... this would explain far more about school food than I like. :smalleek: I don't want to think about how much they would jump at the idea.

Haruki-kun

2011-06-17, 10:34 AM

How much of our current food supply is like that? Meat, eggs, milk, cheese, bread, honey, nearly everything is disgusting when you get down to the nubs.

Meat, Milk, Eggs, Cheese, Bread, Honey and nearly everything has undergone a whole bunch of chemical processes in nature, by plants and animals, to turn it into what it is. I'm aware that at some point what I eat has been inside another animal, but it's not the same.

If presented with a plate of meat and a place of these burgers and told "hey, they taste the same, you know?" How many people would eat it without thinking of it?

Thanatos 51-50

2011-06-17, 10:38 AM

I've heard about MREs.

Where'd you hear about them from? Modern MRE are (A) expensive and (B) fast-approaching delicious. Most of them are now, at the very least, palatable.

MoonCat

2011-06-17, 10:39 AM

Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick taken literally I see.

The scary thing is that there are already animal feces in school lunches, and those are made with rejected food from the worst fast food places. Really makes you think what we're feeding kids, doesn't it?

RabbitHoleLost

2011-06-17, 10:41 AM

Where'd you hear about them from? Modern MRE are (A) expensive and (B) fast-approaching delicious. Most of them are now, at the very least, palatable.

In the process, they got rid of my Thai Chicken MRE =(

I'm sorry- my brain is blocking out the real subject of this thread in order to save what little is left of my sanity.

Goodness, WHY WHY WHY

pendell

2011-06-17, 10:45 AM

Where'd you hear about them from? Modern MRE are (A) expensive and (B) fast-approaching delicious. Most of them are now, at the very least, palatable.

Opinions vary (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080303143434AAQ8yXE).

I remember hearing a non-military civilian call the MRE "three lies for the price of one" -- but that was in 1988. Possible the MRE has improved since then. But I'll wager the MRE is designed with a number of issues in mind (portability, ease of preparing in the field, nutrition, shelf life) besides simple taste. So there's always going to be civilian foods that make the MRE taste like dog food in comparison.

I've had a few myself on camping trips. They're not bad and they're portable. Still wouldn't want to live on 'em.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

pendell

2011-06-17, 10:54 AM

The scary thing is that there are already animal feces in school lunches, and those are made with rejected food from the worst fast food places. Really makes you think what we're feeding kids, doesn't it?

Umm ... part of me wants to know what exactly you're talking about. After a long and hard inner struggle, I have given into this temptation. What exactly are you talking about? What do you know about school lunch programs? Can you provide a link?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Tengu_temp

2011-06-17, 10:58 AM

You can say "turd" on these forums, you know. Turd turd turd. Also, that video was obviously a parody. On the other hand, turd burgers would probably taste better than some of the fast good I tried.

MoonCat

2011-06-17, 11:07 AM

Umm ... part of me wants to know what exactly you're talking about. After a long and hard inner struggle, I have given into this temptation. What exactly are you talking about? What do you know about school lunch programs? Can you provide a link?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

I'm afraid I can't link to the books directly :smallsmile:, but I appear to have misstated that. The legal standard for how much fecal matter can be in the school lunches is above zero. Can be found in Fast Food Nation, which devotes some of its time to school lunches.

I do hope I didn't offend you with my mistaken quote, I was working off of memory, that has now been rectified.

pendell

2011-06-17, 11:12 AM

Also, that video was obviously a parody.

With respect, sir, Dailytech says it is not (http://www.dailytech.com/Japanese+Make+Delicious+Nourishing+Steaks+From+Hum an+Feces/article21932c.htm).

So does Yahoo news (http://news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20110615/tc_digitaltrends/japanesescientistscreatesmeatoutoffeces).

Googling "Mitsuyuki Ikeda" (the scientist in the video) produces the following hits (http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=mitsuyuki+ikeda&aq=0&aqi=g1g-v2&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=895fc67dd14a86c2&biw=930&bih=536).

ETA: Okayama (http://www.eac-w.com/UNESCO/pages/Compostela/Building_an_Environmental_Education_System.html) is a real organization, and there really is a Mitsuyuki Ikeda working there on environmental sustainability studies.

So I do not believe it is a parody or a satire. If it is, it's an extremely good one. The actual scientist and the actual organization could sue for libel, in that case.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Brother Oni

2011-06-17, 11:23 AM

I remember hearing a non-military civilian call the MRE "three lies for the price of one" -- but that was in 1988. Possible the MRE has improved since then.

Also depends on the armed force in question. British Army rat packs have always seemed to be of higher quality than MREs (I've heard anecdotal stories of American soldiers doing fairly lop-sided trades for British rat packs when they've been together on tours), plus they have a fairly British sense of humour on some of the items (Yorkie bar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MOD_Yorkie.JPG)).

That said, it's still military rations - I once met a combat medic who had just come back from Sierra Leone after 20-odd days on the same rat pack. To say he was fed up of bacon and beans and biscuits brown was an understatement. :smalltongue:

Crow

2011-06-17, 11:40 AM

My favorite MRE portion was those jalapeno crackers. Best tasting thing in the pack! Bet they'd be even better with a side of poo jerky.

On the school lunches thing, the poo content is primarily related to rat droppings.

Tengu_temp

2011-06-17, 12:24 PM

With respect, sir, Dailytech says it is not (http://www.dailytech.com/Japanese+Make+Delicious+Nourishing+Steaks+From+Hum an+Feces/article21932c.htm).

Well, in that case the phrase "eat **** and die" might soon take on an entirely new meaning.

Asta Kask

2011-06-17, 12:27 PM

I've eaten surströmming. This can't be worse.

bluewind95

2011-06-17, 12:29 PM

I'd heard about using mealworms and other such insects for meat. But.... I.... I'm not sure I'd be able to stomach this :smalleek:

Asta Kask

2011-06-17, 12:30 PM

Soylent Brown is ****!

Crow

2011-06-17, 12:39 PM

Well, in that case the phrase "eat **** and die" might soon take on an entirely new meaning.

"Eat **** and prosper."

Soylent Brown is ****!

I LOL'd so hard.

rayne_dragon

2011-06-17, 07:54 PM

Somehow soylent green seems a preferable solution. :smallyuk:

Saw it, too. :smalltongue:

You know... they're claiming that once it's put on the market it would be priced "roughly the same as normal meat" but... I'm not sure how useful that would be. It would have to be priced like.... way lower than......

......I'm sorry, I can't finish my sentences, I just can't stop thinking about what I'm talking about. :smalleek:

Yeah, I don't understand how this could be priced as one of the more expensive things in a grocery store and still have people purchase it.

Orzel

2011-06-17, 09:06 PM

I've visited three sewage treatment plant, I am never eating anything that came directly our of one.

AtlanteanTroll

2011-06-18, 12:13 AM

If they get the price low enough, coming soon to a high school lunch program near you. It's organic! It's carbon friendly! And if they get the price low enough, it could be economic!

But yeah. If this reaches production, expect the first places to buy it will be institutions where the "customers" don't have any choice about what they eat. Prisons. Schools. Armed Forces.

I've heard about MREs. I'm curious as to whether food made from "sewage mud" would be an improvement or not.

Respectfully,

Brian P.
You make it sound as if packing is impossible.

Xyk

2011-06-18, 04:11 AM

Eeeeeewwww :smallyuk:

Borgh

2011-06-18, 06:09 AM

I remind you that the scientist himself has a label on his refrigerator -- noted by our keen-eyed posters -- essentially describing the contents as [excrement] burgers.

If the original scientist sees it that way, I don't think we can blame the commenters or the makers of the video for drawing the same conclusion.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Sensationalism got even the scientists.

neverminfd then, PR can go eat a hamburger.

Philistine

2011-06-19, 11:36 AM

How much of our current food supply is like that? Meat, eggs, milk, cheese, bread, honey, nearly everything is disgusting when you get down to the nubs.

But this is one that doesn't pass the giggle test even before the gag reflex. Human feces is not nutritious to humans, the entire point is that feces is what's left when everything that a human can process from food has been removed. The sensible process is the one that we've been doing for thousands of years, which is to use our feces to fertilize our fields to provide nutrients for crops that we can digest.
My understanding is that human feces is not useful as fertilizer (at least not for food crops) for the same reason.

...I would start with feeding the artificial meat to more conventional livestock and slaughtering that.
See above. Also, most food animals are herbivores.

I'm afraid I can't link to the books directly :smallsmile:, but I appear to have misstated that. The legal standard for how much fecal matter can be in the school lunches is above zero. Can be found in Fast Food Nation, which devotes some of its time to school lunches.

I do hope I didn't offend you with my mistaken quote, I was working off of memory, that has now been rectified.
A college friend did his work-study in the campus dining hall, and reported that cases of meat came in stamped "USDA Grade D, but fit for human consumption" on the box - for comparison, I'm given to understand that dog food is most commonly Grade B. I suspect that's part of why cafeteria food just isn't that good as a rule, whether it's found in schools, hospitals, or wherever. (The other parts being the large batch sizes required and the need to hold the food under a warmer for extended periods of time.)

Incidentally, another friend who worked off-campus at the nearby location of a certain pseudo-Mexican fast-food chain also reported unloading cases of Grade D meat from their delivery truck.

The Glyphstone

2011-06-19, 11:47 AM

On that note, the Grade of Beef has nothing directly to do with its quality or edibility - there's no standard that says "Grade A is steaks, Grade B is dog food, Grade D is school cafeteria burgers".

http://meat.tamu.edu/beefgrading.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef#USDA_beef_grades

The grade of a meat is based off formulas, primarily based on the ratio of fat to muscle in the meat (more muscle = better) and the maturity of the animal when slaughtered (younger = juicier = higher grade). So dog food is far more likely to be grade D or E, since dogs don't care if they eat filet mignon or pure gristle. Anything below grade D is too inedible for humans, as your actual comparison.

Dr.Epic

2011-06-19, 11:52 AM

I don't want to eat Scrubs. That show started to fall apart quicker than the Flash on caffeine during the final seasons.

Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1N6QfuIh0g&feature=player_embedded)

I'm not sure if this link is serious or not. It would definitely help my diet. Because if I had to eat ----- , I would probably not want to eat ever again.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Oh, wait, you were talking about...actually, I'd rather consume that than watch the final seasons of Scrubs.:smallwink:

Tirian

2011-06-19, 12:15 PM

My understanding is that human feces is not useful as fertilizer (at least not for food crops) for the same reason.

Nah, the plants love the stuff. It's a bunch of nitrogen and phosphorus and plenty of other great elements that's been broken down to a degree that they can liberate and absorb themselves. Circle of life and all.

The reason that raw human feces is frowned upon as a fertilizer (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_soil)(in contrast to the manure of other species) is that the farmers are susceptible to any number of pathogens that live in other people's intestines. There is ongoing research (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanure#Humanure)into how to reduce the risks through composting or heat treatments to create an eco-friendly alternative that helps both agriculture and sewage treatment.

Serpentine

2011-06-19, 12:26 PM

Human feces is not nutritious to humans, the entire point is that feces is what's left when everything that a human can process from food has been removed.I would just like to point out that the human digestive system is significantly less than 100% efficient. I would be surprised if (*shudder*) one couldn't get a reasonable amount of nutrition straight from it.
Case in point: corn. And that's all I'll say on that.

Tirian

2011-06-19, 02:02 PM

I would just like to point out that the human digestive system is significantly less than 100% efficient. I would be surprised if (*shudder*) one couldn't get a reasonable amount of nutrition straight from it.
Case in point: corn. And that's all I'll say on that.

I'm skeptical. Trolling through the Straight Dope forums (which is exactly the place for sophomoric science questions IMO), the consensus seems to be that the body is extremely good at getting what humans can get out of food and absorbing it into the bloodstream. To the degree that there are plenty of calories left, that's indigestible material to humans and I think you'd find that another pass through the system is going to have marginal benefits. These scientists may also be throwing some microbes into the cesspool to address that point to a certain degree, but it still isn't like eating food that hasn't already been picked through by the human digestive tract.

I would compare it to spending a whole day in a room with no ventilation. That's not a particularly healthy decision even though the room still contains some oxygen. Even adding a few plants to the room is going to be a much less optimal decision than opening a window and exposing yourself to a far more diverse atmosphere.

Themrys

2011-06-19, 02:19 PM

The reason that raw human feces is frowned upon as a fertilizer (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_soil)(in contrast to the manure of other species) is that the farmers are susceptible to any number of pathogens that live in other people's intestines. There is ongoing research (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanure#Humanure)into how to reduce the risks through composting or heat treatments to create an eco-friendly alternative that helps both agriculture and sewage treatment.

The fact that animals are nowadays fed with the same things humans would eat (corn, soy, cow, pig) makes fertilizing with animal manure risky, too, as it enables some bacteria, which would otherwise not be able to survive in humans, to get used to the human digestive tract.

Dangerous as it may be, fertilizing with human feces is a much better idea than eating human feces.

pendell

2011-06-19, 05:54 PM

I'm skeptical. Trolling through the Straight Dope forums (which is exactly the place for sophomoric science questions IMO), the consensus seems to be that the body is extremely good at getting what humans can get out of food and absorbing it into the bloodstream. To the degree that there are plenty of calories left, that's indigestible material to humans and I think you'd find that another pass through the system is going to have marginal benefits. These scientists may also be throwing some microbes into the cesspool to address that point to a certain degree, but it still isn't like eating food that hasn't already been picked through by the human digestive tract.

I would compare it to spending a whole day in a room with no ventilation. That's not a particularly healthy decision even though the room still contains some oxygen. Even adding a few plants to the room is going to be a much less optimal decision than opening a window and exposing yourself to a far more diverse atmosphere.

I agree with serpentine -- the human body is highly efficient but by no means perfect. If this were not so, I doubt it could produce useful fertilizer.

I suspect it's rather like distilling liquor -- if 100 kilos of 'mud' produce 1 kilo of useful nutrition, then you should be able to reclaim 1 metric ton of nutrition for per 100 metric tons of mud. That 1 metric ton can then be synthesized into an edible form, then given to marketroids who can make people want to eat it, the same way they can convince us that coffin nails and coca-cola is something we want to consume.

That implies that the process will be inefficient and will never be able to replace food from primary sources. But if you're desperate for food and must make every scrap count, this might make the difference between starvation and eating for a number of people.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Worira

2011-06-19, 06:56 PM

Mmm, Protein Delicacies.

ZombyWoof

2011-06-19, 06:58 PM

I've heard about MREs. I'm curious as to whether food made from "sewage mud" would be an improvement or not.

MREs aren't half bad... too salty for me but other than that they're fine.

shadow_archmagi

2011-06-19, 07:52 PM

MREs aren't half bad... too salty for me but other than that they're fine.

Yeah, I suspect that MREs have improved considerably since the 80s.

I suspect it's rather like distilling liquor -- if 100 kilos of 'mud' produce 1 kilo of useful nutrition, then you should be able to reclaim 1 metric ton of nutrition for per 100 metric tons of mud.

That implies that the process will be inefficient and will never be able to replace food from primary sources.

Yeah, I mean, how many metric tons of mud do we produce? It could probably make a difference in the market.

I seriously doubt that they'll have to feed it to children and convicts first; the video claims it looks and tastes pretty normal. My guess is that this process is going to produce large quantities of fully functional food and the biggest hurdle is going to be overcoming the power of four year olds giggling at it.

bluewind95

2011-06-19, 10:33 PM

But isn't this meat made from the protein of bacteria? Not so much from the actual waste, but from the bacteria that populate it, and the waste is basically the food for the bacteria? The yuck factor is a lot less then and then it's far easier to, well, market it. You don't exactly have to say exactly what you're feeding the bacteria...

Bhu

2011-06-20, 12:39 AM

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/06/17/it-is-unspeakable

Amiel

2011-06-20, 12:40 AM

Well, that's certainly one way to solve world hunger.

Why must the Japanese be so weird? I would say eccentric, but their economy is suffering.

EDIT:
I don't want to eat Scrubs. That show started to fall apart quicker than the Flash on caffeine during the final seasons.

Would you be adverse to eating shrubs?

Ravens_cry

2011-06-20, 02:11 AM

Eeeeeewwww :smallyuk:
You know, technically speaking, every molecule of everything you eat has been through someone or somethings bowels a billion times over.

Coidzor

2011-06-20, 02:33 AM

You know, technically speaking, every molecule of everything you eat has been through someone or somethings bowels a billion times over.

Well, yes, but generally what we eat is the stuff that hasn't gone through something's bowels immediately so much as been taken out of said bowels to make more of said thing.

Zeb The Troll

2011-06-20, 02:34 AM

Yeah, I suspect that MREs have improved considerably since the 80s.As someone who served from 1990 to 2000, I can categorically confirm this. I still have friends who serve and the progress I witnessed hasn't slowed. Like someone else said, they're not good enough that you'd want to make them your staple food, but that's not really what they're designed for. They're meant to sustain soldiers who are away from a mess tent. They're meant to have all of the nutrition you'd need for an entire day in one package (as of my time in service, a single MRE had between 3500 and 5000 calories if consumed in its entirety).

On topic, why would anyone even think to try to make this work? Just >squick<. :smallyuk:

Ravens_cry

2011-06-20, 02:49 AM

Well, yes, but generally what we eat is the stuff that hasn't gone through something's bowels immediately so much as been taken out of said bowels to make more of said thing.
Well, this is probably a hoax anyway, but even if it is, it's the same thing in the end.

Coidzor

2011-06-20, 02:54 AM

Well, this is probably a hoax anyway, but even if it is, it's the same thing in the end.

Perception is reality and reality is nothing. Or so the saying goes.

Hard to perceive a chicken as ****, especially when it's bleeding everywhere while running around post decapitation.

Easy to perceive effluvium as effluvium despite having been subjected to bacterial cultures.

Ravens_cry

2011-06-20, 05:41 AM

Perception is reality and reality is nothing. Or so the saying goes.

Hard to perceive a chicken as ****, especially when it's bleeding everywhere while running around post decapitation.

Easy to perceive effluvium as effluvium despite having been subjected to bacterial cultures.
Well, that's why science is discovery. Sure, it's hard to think of it this way, but it is true nonetheless, molecules are molecules, perceptions be damned.

pendell

2011-06-20, 08:23 AM

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/06/17/it-is-unspeakable

he and I agree, based on a gut feeling (har!) and on the refrigerator in the video ... that this whole Japanese-scientist-synthesizes-meat thing is a hoax.

"Gut feeling" isn't persuasive, to me. I can well believe that a scientist looking for environmental sustainability would be looking for protein from many sources.

I've done a second google search (http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&biw=930&bih=536&q=ikeda+burger&btnG=Google+Search#sclient=psy&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=t0z&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&source=hp&q=Mitsuyuki+ikeda&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=951dc7972bfd90fb&biw=930&bih=536). Again, there is no indication that there is a hoax but there are a number of outlets, both reputable and non-, which say it is serious. If it IS a hoax,as I said, it's a very good one.

ETA: That said, if it comes out in a month or two that this is a hoax, I shan't be surprised. I know what he says about his hoax detector going off, but a hunch by itself is not conclusive.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

ThirdEmperor

2011-06-20, 08:40 AM

Where'd you hear about them from? Modern MRE are (A) expensive and (B) fast-approaching delicious. Most of them are now, at the very least, palatable.

Yeah. MREs are not nearly as bad as they say. Really, the only thing that could possibly be considered "disgusting" about them is the texture of the food.

As for the "**** burgers", it is true that pretty much all of our food was either inside an animal, part of an animal or grown in animal crap at some point, but "feces burgers" are still utterly disgusting. What makes them different from, say, milk? Well, what makes a burger made of cow meat different from a burger made of human meat? It's all about cultural taboos and so forth. Really, there's barely any difference between these new "**** burgers" and normal ones, but that doesn't make it any less disgusting.

Tirian

2011-06-20, 08:44 AM

Yeah, this doesn't trip my hoax-meter at all, as much as I think that it's a foolish idea that has no commercial viability. It seems that dealing with "night soil" is an increasingly important issue, from waste management concerns in developed nations to public health issues in the Third World to science-fiction notions like how a space colony can be self-sufficient. The bulk of the thought is that you can reclaim feces as fertilizer, but one might not be surprised that a nation with a love of technology and curious food and not a strong agricultural base would entertain alternate plans.

Bhu

2011-06-27, 04:31 PM

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/06/23/japan_feces_meat_viral

Draconi Redfir

2011-06-27, 04:35 PM

You think we would be liable to sue any restuaunts that serve this stuff and call it meat? because i probably would.

pendell

2011-06-27, 04:45 PM

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/06/23/japan_feces_meat_viral

So they're investigating to see whether it's a hoax or not? Very good. I look forward to learning what they discover.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Asta Kask

2011-06-28, 12:10 PM

On a related note... (http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110620/ap_on_re_us/us_urine_in_reservoir)

Because a 21-year-old man was caught on a security camera urinating into a city reservoir, Oregon's biggest city is sending 8 million gallons of treated drinking water down the drain.

Portland officials defended the decision Monday, saying they didn't want to send city residents water laced, however infinitesimally, with urine.

Public health officials say, however, that urine is sterile in healthy people and that the urine in the reservoir was so diluted — perhaps a half pint in millions of gallons — that it posed little risk.

Some people in the city, in the suburbs and around the world called the flush an overreaction, especially since animals such as ducks contribute waste routinely and, sometimes, die in the water.

"More than 1 billion people worldwide do not have reliable access to clean drinking water, and here we are tossing away nearly 8 million gallons of water just to appease the ignorant residents who believe their tap water will otherwise turn yellow," read one comment posted on The Oregonian's Website.