STRIKE FOR THE PLANET
Because I will not be your Cassandra.1
That’s why this week’s topic is BLACKWATER RECYCLING NOW.
“Who needs a blackwater recycling plant?! Not us! No one recycles water! Namibia and San Diego do? Come on! San Diego’s a desert and Namibia’s in Africa! SF is surrounded by water on three sides! Look around, we don’t need water recycling here!”
We Use A Lot Of Water
San Franciscans use roughly 273 liters of water per person per day.2 The water use goals of SB 606 and AB 1668 call for us to use fewer than 208 liters per person per day indoors by 2025.3
Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, has an average daily indoors water consumption of 193 liters per person.4 SF’s climate is heating to temperatures akin to Nashville’s5, but SF will be a lot drier than Tennessee (more on just how dry below). Aridity, temperatures, and Namibia’s stark environmental racism6 make Windhoek an excellent model of what’s to come for us.
We Waste A Lot Of Water
Compared to Palm Springs, we may seem to be doing a good job, but we’re nowhere near what’s needed for what’s coming. How do we waste water?
- Non-native plants waste water, and we’ve got a lot of them.7, 8
- Bad habits like leaving faucets running, “disposing” of toxic substances into landfills where seepage pollutes groundwater, washing cars, leaving faucets and showers running while waiting for water temperature change, washing sidewalks, afternoon waterings, long showers, no aerators on showers and sinks, wasting energy, etc. all waste water.
- Insufficiently aggressive choices regarding construction waste9, business office and retail water usage, energy waste, water loss due to leaks and breaks (it is substantial10), and procedures and equipment in hotels, grocery stores, schools, and restaurants waste water.11
- And flush toilets not only waste water, but they waste many other resources as well, such as energy and fertilizer.12
We Allow Water To Be Destroyed and Stolen
- Pollution destroys water and kills humans, ecosystems, species, and the biosphere.13, 14
- The Sierra snowpack is disappearing and its our fault.15, 16, 17
- Yet we’re allowing the hydrosphere of northern California to be destroyed by projects like the Delta Tunnel.18
And We Do All This Even Though We’re In A Megadrought
A megadrought is defined as lasting TWO DECADES or longer.19 Of the 4 prior megadroughts in California that we have data on, only one has as precipitous a start. Please also note that one of the megadroughts lasted for most of a century.20 Namibia is desert; we soon will be, too.
As Our Water Supply is Decreasing We Need To Reuse, As Well As Reduce
And blackwater recycling does just that. It is low-tech, relatively cheap, and means we’re not treating water like waste.21 It is a good first step for a chance at water security for SF at a time when we absolutely need to be planning for the worst.
Today is the 50th Earth Day, my 52nd day striking, and 52nd letter to you
I am not a Cassandra. I find no benefit in “I told you so” when talking about death and disaster. I’m acting to fix things, to tell the story, to push to try to save some life on this planet.
So what do you need me to do to get you to act while there’s still time? Do you need me to make budgets for an SF blackwater recycling plant? I’ll do it. Do you need me to research construction firms for this? I’ll do it. Do you need me to call Namibia and ask them how they built and run their plants, or Texas, or San Diego, or any of the other places that have done this? I’ll do it. Do you need me to get a shovel and dig the foundations myself? I’ll do it. Whatever you need in order to act, let’s get it done NOW!
Because we’ve seen that acting on science is a good thing22, and it’s almost too late to act on this.
And while we’re at it, what are you doing to build our vitally needed:
- SF native tree urban forest,
- all electric and clean energy transportation,
- no-plastics SF,
- all local carbon-neutral or carbon-negative energy, and
- a resilient and self-sufficient SF?
There are only 36 weeks left23, 24 to take action! Act for SF. Now.
FOOTNOTES
1. “In Greek Myth, Who is Cassandra?” wiseGEEK. 2003-2020. https://www.wisegeek.com/in-greek-myth-who-is-cassandra.htm.
2. “May 2018 Statewide Conservation Data”. California Water Boards Fact Sheet. 10 July 2018. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/docs/2018july/fs071018.pdf. See Residential Daily use by Hydrologic Region table.
3. “Water Efficiency Legislation will Make California More Resilient to Impacts of Future Droughts”. California Water Boards Fact Sheet. 7 June 2018. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/publications_forms/publications/factsheets/docs/water_efficiency_bill_factsheet.pdf.
4. T. Uhlendahl, D. Ziegelmayer, A. Wienecke, M.L. Mawisa, and Piet du Pisani. “Water consumption at household level in Windhoek, Namibia”. Albert Ludwigs University Institute for Culture Geography. 2010. https://www.freidok.uni-freiburg.de/fedora/objects/freidok:7937/datastreams/FILE1/content.
5. Stephen Leahy. “By 2050, many U.S. cities will have wether like they’ve never seen”. National Geographic. 10 July 2019. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/major-us-cities-will-face-unprecedente-climates-2050/.
6. SF doesn’t do environmental racism?
*San Francisco BayView, Tag: environmental racism. https://sfbayview.com/tag/environmental-racism/.
*Hunters Point and Tetra Tech and the entire history of dumping there. https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Hunters-Point-is-a-textbook-case-of-environmental-12917354.php.
*Beyond Recognition. https://underexposedfilms.com/beyond-recognition.
*COVID cases by zip code in SF. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/City-data-show-SF-s-Mission-District-is-area-of-15213922.php.
7. Lizzie Johnson. “SF Plant Finder website aids growth of native plants”. San Francisco Chronicle. 14 January 2016. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-Plant-Finder-website-aids-growth-of-native-6759948.php.
8. Pete Holloran. “Non-Native Invasive Species”. Found sf. Accessed 22 April 2020. http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Non-Native_Invasive_Species.
9. Mohamed Osmani. Waste: A Handbook for Management. ScienceDirect. 2011. p. 207-218. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123814753100154.
10. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. “2015 Urban Water Management Plan for the City and County of San Francisco: Public Review Draft. April 2016. https://www.sfwater.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentID=8839.
11. “Details of Commercial Water Use and Potential Savings, by Sector”. Pace Institute. https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2013/02/appendix_e3.pdf.
12. Tamara Avellan. “The world needs more toilets - but not ones that flush”. The Conversation. 21 March 2017. https://theconversation.com/the-world-needs-more-toilets-but-not-ones-that-flush-74007.
13. Melissa Denchak. “Water Pollution: Everything You Need to Know”. Natural Resources Defense Council. 14 May 2018. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/water-pollution-everything-you-need-know.
14. Derrick Jensen. “Top 10 Ways to Destroy All the Water on Earth”. Fair Observer. 24 August 2016. https://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/top-10-ways-destroy-water-earth-90897/.
15. Chelsea Harvey. “Dismal Western Snowpack Is a Climate ‘Warning Sign’”. Scientific American. 14 May 2018. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dismal-western-snowpack-is-a-climate-warning-sign/.
16. Eric Niler. “As Snow Disappears, the Sierras and Rockies Are Shrinking”. Wired. 12 December 2018. https://www.wired.com/story/as-snow-disappears-the-sierras-and-rockies-are-shrinking/.
17. Henry Fountain. “Sierra Nevada Snow Won’t End California’s Thirst”. The New York Times. 11 April 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/science/california-snow-drought-sierra-nevada-water.html.
18. Dan Bacher. “Tribal Members and Youth Speak Out on Delta Tunnel: ‘Shut It Down!’”. Daily Kos. 5 March 2020. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/5/1924362/-Tribal-Members-and-Youth-Speak-Out-on-Delta-Tunnel-Shut-It-Down.
19. Doyle Rice. “‘Megadrought’ emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years”. USA Today. 16 April 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/16/drought-worst-western-megadrought-here-study-says/5145929002/.
20. Kurtis Alexander. “California, rest of the West sinking into a rare megadrought, scientists say”. San Francisco Chronicle. 16 April 2020. https://www.sfchronicle.com/environment/article/California-rest-of-the-West-sinking-into-a-rare-15205514.php.
21. “Week 28 Strike Letter: Water Recycling”. 8 October 2019. I’ve sent you the pdf before but am more than willing to do so again if needed.
22. Kellie Hwang and Michael Massa. “Charts show how Bay Area’s coronavirus ‘curve’ compares with hot spots in U.S.” San Francisco Chronicle. 22 April 2020. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Charts-show-Bay-Area-crushing-the-curve-vs-15217396.php.
23. See the Action Timeline in the report in “Only 11 Years Left to Prevent Irreversible Damage from Climate Change, Speakers Warn during General Assembly High-Level Meeting”. United Nations. 28 march 2019. https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12131.doc.htm.
24. Paula Murray. “We’ve 10 years to save the seas or life on earth will become impossible”. Express. 23 December 2018. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1062990/environment-plastic-pollution-Sir-David-Attenborough-seas-earth.