Google Cools Data Center With Bathroom Water 230
judgecorp writes "Google is cooling its data center in Douglas County, Georgia, using 'recycled' water that has been through the bathtubs and toilets of the surrounding community. So called 'grey' water is perfectly adequate for the data center's cooling system which relies on evaporation (the wet T-shirt effect), says Google."
Graywater vs. Blackwater (Score:5, Informative)
"Graywater" is water that does not contain human waste, but has been used for other purposes and isn't fit for drinking.
"Blackwater" is sewage water containing human waste (and easily confused with the mercenary business formerly owned by Erik Prince).
Faced with all the stupid comments above (Score:3, Informative)
I am afraid that my opinion of the IQ of the average /. reader just dropped an infinitesimal amount.
Black vs Grey vs Treated (Score:5, Informative)
I'm no potty expert, but I thought that water that is output from a toilet is called black water, water collected from the bathtub, and kitchen are called grey water, and what they are actually using is called treated water.
Am I just behind the times on the terminology or is the article's writer just being sloppy?
came here to say this! (Score:4, Informative)
Shower, bathroom sink, maybe clothes washer - not toilet.
Toilets != grey water (Score:5, Informative)
What comes from toilets is 'black water [wikipedia.org]', but 'grey water'. Grey comes from showers, washing machines, etc. It's specifically that which has been used, but has a low risk of pathogens in it.
From the article, it sounds like they're using a blend of the two ... but they never linked to the March 15th Jim Brown blog post [blogspot.com]. From reading his blog, he states, "We worked with the WSA to build a side-stream plant about five miles west of our data center that diverts up to 30 percent of the water that would have gone back into the river", while the article linked to states "about 30 percent of the water is diverted from the WSA system".
The article makes it sound like they're getting the water *before* it would have been cleaned by the water treatment plant ... from the blog post, I'd say it's after it's been treated, and getting it before it would have been sent back to the river. So it's treated wastewater, which would've already gone through some sort of system to remove pathogens.
Re:Black vs Grey vs Treated (Score:2, Informative)
The writer is being sloppy (or confused).
Re:Hooray for common sense. (Score:5, Informative)
"Gray" vs "Black" water (Score:4, Informative)
Usually "gray" water is water from showers, sinks, etc. -- everything but toilets. Water from toilets, including human wastes, is called "black" water. Some systems keep these separate, although most municipal systems (including, it appears, Douglas County, Georgia) mix them together. So this water starts out as "black", but according to TFA, it's partially cleaned up before being sent to the data center. Apparently it's treated enough to be called "gray", but still isn't potable. Then Google finishes the water treatment and releases the result into the river which is where it would have gone after the county treatment center anyway.
Re:Graywater vs. Blackwater (Score:5, Informative)
Exactly.
Of course, if you read TPWFA (The Poorly Worded Fine Article), you'll find that they are using neither grey water nor black water, they're using treated effluent from the local sewage treatment plant, which should largely be free of solids and possibly decontaminated (in Chicago, anyway, there's a controversy brewing because the treated water dumped into the river is full of nasty bacteria). They will have to treat it further - even clean, potable water needs to be treated when using it in a cooling system in order to prevent fouling of the equipment and possible microbiological growth. Then, as the article says, it gets treated again before it is dumped into the river, since the water accumulates dissolved minerals and other solids and because the treatment chemicals added may themselves be bad for the environment.
Re:Graywater vs. Blackwater (Score:4, Informative)
Greywater only contains a little poo, hair, and used toothpaste. See also: Humanure [humanurehandbook.com]
It's not greywater. Read the danged article. (Score:2, Informative)
They're not using greywater. Greywater is untreated non-human-waste water, like from sinks and showers. Google is using the water which has already been treated by the waste water treatment plant and would otherwise be delivered back to a river. It's not pure enough to drink, but it isn't bathwater. It's purity is somewhere in between tap water and river water, with almost zero "floaties".
But yay poop jokes. Who knew /. had so many 4th graders?
Re:Shit (Score:5, Informative)
grey water does not have toilet water in it, that's called black water, and should be completely different from grey water.
Grey water is under utilized, even in the home (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Shit (Score:5, Informative)
The summary (and Google) are being misleading here. This is treated sewage that would have been otherwise dumped in the local river - thus it is almost drinkable, and almost certainly cleaner than the river water itself. "Greywater" usually describes untreated sewage from non-toilet sources (showers, sinks, dishwashers, clothes washers).
Re:Shit (Score:5, Informative)
Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, which can be recycled on-site for uses such as landscape irrigation and constructed wetlands. Greywater differs from water from the toilets which is designated sewage or blackwater to indicate it contains human waste.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greywater [wikipedia.org]
Reclaimed water or recycled water, is former wastewater (sewage) that is treated to remove solids and certain impurities, and used in sustainable landscaping irrigation or to recharge groundwater aquifers. The purpose of these processes is sustainability and water conservation, rather than discharging the treated water to surface waters such as rivers and oceans. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reclaimed_water [wikipedia.org]