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INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY 069“ ENDING MARINE POLLUTION IS NOT JUST THE RIGHT THING TO DO, IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY FOR OUR CONTINUED SURVIVAL ”“It is a great use of the waste and the nutrients it contains. The best answer is not to ban the practice, but to improve it. Even without expensive infrastructure, common sense measures can make wastewater irrigation safer.”Colin Chartres (IWMI) in an interview with New Scientist reporter Fred Pearce, August 2008 There is much to gain from ‘‘WasteWater’’. From a resource standpoint, ‘‘Waste’’ (less than 0.1 per cent content) is largely organic and rich in energy while nutrients (less than 0.01 per cent content) found soluble in ‘‘Water’’ are ideal for land application. The ‘‘Waste’’ being carbon neutral offers a renewable source of electricity and an effective means for reducing greenhouse emissions and the affects of global warming.‘‘The energy content of (community wastewater) sludge is greater than oil shale or tar sand.’’TEXACO R&D 1991Disappointingly, modern treatment plants are not engineered to mine wastewater and instead devour energy and consumables destroying ‘‘Waste’’ and ‘‘Nutrients’’ before discharging spent ‘‘Water’’ into marine environments. But fortunately, associated sewer networks DO allow for Greenfield infrastructure.‘‘The organic matter found in wastewater has some 10 times the energy required to operate today’s conventional treatment plants.’’NYSERDA MWH 2015The CO2 released by modern wastewater treatment plants (estimated at 3 per cent of total global emissions, IPCC 2008) originates from two sources, the microbial breakdown of ‘‘Waste’’ organics and the burning of fossil fuels needed to operate the plant itself. The true extent of associated emissions does however represent an area of uncertainty when considering the adverse effects of marine discharge. Microbes that normally sustain the natural dynamics of ecosystems are instead systematically tackling pollution (in response to ecosystem change).Should these microbes die, the methane (alternately released from decomposition of ‘‘Waste’’ organics) would disastrously end up as additional greenhouse emission (some 30 per cent more in fact). Given the Ocean is responsible for keeping our planet cool, we need to do all that is possible to preserve it – ending marine pollution is not just the right thing to do, it is absolutely necessary for our continued survival. Furthermore, reclamation of ‘‘WasteWater’’ for land-application will revitalise a plethora of ecosystems, thereby preserving the second most influential means to cooling the planet, the Earth’s flora – returning natural water cycles in symbiotic relationship with the Ocean. Humanity has drained the land of water for far too long, it is now essential for Humanity to return water to the land to quench its own ecosystems.Infrastructure change through mining ‘‘WasteWater’’ instead of disposal would reduce all related emissions to near zero, and at the same time contribute significant quantities of oxygen to the atmosphere through a return of natural ecological processes. But to implement System Change requires political, legal and economic instruments and cooperation of the global community.