Would you drink recycled wastewater? Would you drink water from the toilet? Countries like the United States and Singapore have started turning treated wastewater into potable drinking water. Less than one percent of the water in the world is fresh surface water; the rest is frozen in icebergs, underground, or part of the salty ocean. Many people take the availability of fresh running water for granted, but reusing wastewater is becoming a necessary part of modern life. Singapore currently has to import water to support their population, but they are working towards becoming water independent. By treating the water and reusing it, resources are being utilized more efficiently, but some people are still grossed out by the idea of drinking water that used to be mixed with sewage. In one study, people were asked to drink apple juice out of an unused bedpan, and the majority of people wouldn’t do it, even though they knew that it was perfectly clean. The process of cleaning wastewater is an effective way to reuse water that involves many steps. New technologies are working to reduce the cost and amount of energy used to clean water and make it easier to recycle wastewater for human consumption. What do you think about reusing treated wastewater?