Eat journey this week on d. W. Ah billions of late as of Drinking Water flush away our waste every day. Huge drain and Sewage Systems and needed to clean it is our giant purifier without these facilities, the stench would be unbearable and disease would spread. Janice hygiene is the top priority. We can get sick, sewage is also very wasteful and harmful to the environment. Recycling nutrients and removing toxins is very difficult. Both sides, we have to get past using water is a transport media. Its far too precious for that. And this murky medium is much more than that. Its also a source of hidden information. Dolly zoe z o at hulu. Sewage holds everything that makes up our lives. 0 dollars visual and a Fascinating Research subject. When i was 6 years old, i always knew i wanted to be scientists. For the 1st time, for this documentary, research is compare the waste water of 2 capitals in detail. Do berlin is leave differently from parisians. The sphere of them, i would not have thought that it would be so different compared to paris, citizenship sewage, dangerous, valuable, and rich in inflammation. Ah parents in the dazzling evening sun passes by along the sin, have no idea of the complex and intricate world beneath their feet. Deep below the city, canals stretch but 2600 kilometers, almost the distance to saint petersburg. These constantly flowing and somewhat pungent, well, these part of every day life for waste water analyst olivia ru, slow this yo yos for just you that my name is olivia bruce lowville and im the laptop director of seattle, the greats of paris sanitation authority, couldnt we collect and clean the waste water in paris. Isaiah caea purifies parisians. Waste every day. 2. 4000000000 liters of dirty water around 1000 olympic swimming pools. Ru slow extracts, a small part of it, for his analysis. Ah, to his room, it was for some sensual bell every day for the 365. 00 days yet that we have to sample the raw sewage of the inflow of the plans and the treated sewage of the out classroom. Is he failed to plenty dont on saturdays and sundays. We call the samples and processed them on monday. And so we get results for every day of the year. Shouldered any a dont go. We then analyzed the samples in the lab as required by law. His analysis from the monday ballard, iowa. But the samples taken on this day have a very special purpose which reveals itself 1000 kilometers to the northeast at the gates of berlin. Because at the vast mans door of Sewage Treatment plant there, a very similar scene is taking place at the same time. He had 2 a couple of analysts sample wastewater. Ah, its each month when the, im fredericks each man, department, head of Sewage Treatment plant analysis. My department monitors what goes into the plant i and how the plant is running. What comes out of the plans . Come on and what can be safely released back into the water, im honest shooting. But what are the chemists looking for in the waste water . For the 1st time, they want to compare the sewage of the 2 european capitals in detail. The samples are tested for well over 80 substances. Proceed to i to slasher is the same thing happening in paris and berlin. Here we would think so because of this message, we have domestic wastewater, i what i flushed down the toilet. And so today was to you, im from spot paris may have different industrial influences than waiters in. Its interesting to see what the people actually assume when it comes to micro pollutants extend from residues of medicines, industrial chemicals, drugs and such can be quite different. As condos into studios fun said this is hilda vieira. Its hard to know what to expect from comparing berlin and parish may pours for the classic parameters of nitrogen, phosphorus, and chemical oxygen. Oh, i would expect the littles to be quite similar on the width already shows se juvenile a bucket to assures culprit, but it might be different from micro pollutants or leave me. Here we my find difference is related to eating hobbies and care products. Usually, motel de swa, c h mon, andrew slow will examine the dirty water closely in the coming weeks there, supported by one of the worlds leading waste water analysis institutes. The institute for Analytical Research at the Fresenius University of applied sciences in each dine lab director thomas can epa will personally examine the samples for trace components. Ah, yeah. I mean, its gods wife lashmar come and weve just received 2 bottles and one from paris and one from berlin wu dotted on. Weve had a good look at that and are of course, very excited to see what our examination and the subsequent analysis will bring to light on the analysis will take 2 weeks. Will the research is fine differences . If so, would this mean that parisians live differently or are exposed to different chemicals and consume different substances than berlins . Ah, a recent example shows how rich waste water is in information to curb the corona, virus shops, restaurants, and Public Institutions closed all over europe. In spring 2020 governments imposed locked downs, but still the hospitals were overwhelmed. The uncertainty was great. How many people were actually infected . How many unreported cases were their researches worked feverishly to bridge the gap . See now knowledge french verola just sebastian view. It says is one of them. He works for the paris waterworks and monitors the drinking and waste water for pathogens. Which should be the susie for her. Oh god, the la la puzzles do monitoring wastewater for pathogens is nothing new vo, but what is new is connecting these measurements in waste water to the health of the general population law. Nearly the sunny day elder of a philosopher. In 2015 you had said proved this connection for the 1st time in gastro intestinal viruses. Sick people excrete particles of pathogens in their feces. From there, they enter the sewage system and end up in the water Treatment Plants who had thick and showed that the number of virus particles in waste water is related to the number of sick people in the population. The more particles in the sewage, the more sick people there are but is that also true with corona viruses, all the pathogens even detectable in waste water . And if so, can we predict how quickly corona will spread in february 2028th of we would say, and his team, one of the 1st Research Groups world wide, began to systematically search the parents cesspool. For sauce c o v to twice a week, they sampled wastewater at the inlets of 6 parisians, Sewage Treatment plants, 11 more treatment plans from the metropolitan area would also later be added if you them all of sess, sequel p g that its quite complicated to get a perfectly representative sample of whats in circulation yet because the waste water flows are so huge. Holden, a full coin for to show the analysts did in fact find the corona virus in the waste water. But the amount fluctuated greatly from week to week. Why . If its air and his team investigated and heat opponent, astonishing explanation. When it rains a lot, the rain mixes with the waste water in the sewage system. Large quantities of water reached the Treatment Plants, the samples that the analysts finally take a highly diluted and thus also contain few of viruses. Using a computer algorithm, virt say i came to grips with this distortion. Now the waste water data tell him how wide spread the corona virus really is in the population. But thats not all even earlier than the Health Authorities who get their information from the hospitals. Food sets can see if infections are increasing or decreasing funds, wanda miller, val, with a few of soviet the end of june 2020, even before hospital numbers increased. We were able to serve an increased by willard in the spiritual mob, especially for that is the force which unfortunately foretold the 2nd wave that was to come to macklin sewage as an Early Warning system. For corona, it works of itself. The stinky sludge is much more than just waste. Its also a source of valuable information. Looking back into history, sewage has not been around for very long. In the middle ages, feces ended up in latrines, chamber pots, cesspits, or simply in the gutter. Cities often disposed of their waste in nearby bodies of water pathogens peacefully got into the Drinking Water or food and spread. The result was disease and death. Blue london introduced the 1st comprehensive sewer system in 18. 59, many other european and American Cities followed suit low lying chicago even raised parts of its city area, including huge buildings by several meters to allow the feces to flow away. At 1st, the cities only built Sewage Systems to discharge their untreated sewage into rivers and lakes. But they became more and more filthy, killing the animals that lived there. Soon, the 1st Sewage Treatment plants were built to treat human waste before releasing it into the environment. The system of su as and treatment plans revolutionized health safety, but it also brings a few disadvantages every day, the worlds toilets use 6 times as much Drinking Water as the needs of the entire african continent. Not only building the system but maintaining it comes with enormous costs. Berlins, more than 9600 kilometer long sewage system is monitored here from this control station. More than 300 pumps transport the waste water of 3600000 people to Treatment Plants. If anything goes wrong and alarm sounds in the control room, ah, ah, ah, dr. Young and alarmed the guest, the alarm went off here. However, someone went into a building and opened the door of the team. From the control center investigates, an employee had entered a pumping station without checking in. Oh, clear them apart from unauthorized access. The alarm is usually triggered by blockages. Its marteen cheap lakes job to clear them viani gravel in many in my way via von jana yvonne, we would like to clean the suction chamber. Thanks. Lucille, i thought by the sewage arrives in the suction chamber before the pumps move it on to the Treatment Plant. But all kinds of waste collect in the damp chamber. Does things unfun eye upon woods by it indeed of boston. Mit good. Listen, van. Good. Since anything from a number that gets carried away from construction sites to think, well we once had canal pipes 3 meters longings. Its a 60 centimeters in diameter limit that will washed away from a construction site in a rainstorm. Stock finger egless ah, heavy rains can wash anything, not properly secured down into the sewage system. But the feces themselves also require a great deal of cleaning if it hadnt been. The walls usually collect a bit of turns. But also quite a lot of grease when we hose off the fat so that it doesnt build up too much yearbook wet wipes, cent fiber cloths which do not belong in the sewage system or a particular challenge. Is kind of father to mock out. Im in the tom last i here come, our enrollment wont be but in vague to supply many counties that soon the small fiber cloth may seem harmless, but going through the pump and sewage system cleaning cloths and bits of thread get tangled lint on been global. Weve calculated that this extra cleaning costs, the water companys almost 1000000. 00 euros per year. Fast item, you an oil up or yacht sous, its the cost that diesel to that. I dont mean normal cleaning. Im doing it. I mean, the extra work created by, for example, isnt the tangled mass of cleaning towels. Yes. Shoes if the, some by spirit realty, at stoughton, of angles to her. But my oft, ah, paris 2 has to work to keep the canals from clogging. A tried and true method is the so called battle van a several me to long boats that work is lower into the canals and push in front of them like a plow. Experts estimate that renewing the sewage system in germany alone will cost around 12500000000. 00 euros per year. In the coming decades, by comparison, the countries spent a total of 14200000000 euros on Road Construction in 2020. And the su, as in pumps are only the 1st part of the system the largest Sewage Treatment plant in europe, and suppose it 2nd largest in the world is in a share north of paris 50 through the only georgia. Olivers war gonzalez soon did us that as this is the purification giant mold, we often call it that it may be put in size to flow rate and the amount of pollution removed. Its one of the most im forcing Sewage Treatment plan in the world news you did process is the waste water of around is 5000000. 00 inhabitants. Go about 1500000 cubic meters per day in dry weather light today, exhausted by thats really a lot of typical in fact, a share basically works like any other Sewage Treatment plant in the world. But on a much larger scale, hidden in these boxes, the screens filter cools waste by the ton from fibers toilet paper and bottles, the cigarette butts. Bob wallach, you may have gotten bene. Doormen. Ha ha. We removed one full dumpster of cigarette butts. Could they here . Shot them isnt for them. I think after that also we do some a fine, a screening to get out even smaller trash physician. He thought chiseled profile countless basin, separate grease and sand in the next step, primarily from food scraps all what rainwater washes up. After that, the actual treatment begins in so cold activated sludge tanks. The sewage is enriched with oxygen. The micro organisms that break down the nutrients in the sludge need. This oxygen to live. The work of microorganisms creates in broad terms to products, purified water, which can flow off into the environment and biomass, which sinks to the bottom of the basin consisting largely of the bacteria that have consumed the nutrients. But the oxygen supply in particular is expensive. Of all the public facilities in a city, Sewage Treatment plan consumed the most energy on average. Ah, the system is also vulnerable to the effects of climate change. During drought and dry spells, the water gets muddy and the plans dont function as well. And during heavy rainfall the treatment basins flood, in extreme cases, the sewage escapes into the environment untreated it came of under his films that Safety Climate change is indeed an issue for us. On the top, if we have both heavy rainfall on one side or gate and dry spells on the other in here, the money is not enough. We also need ideas. Kelly inventions, klein v and certainly more awareness light and a different way of handling water as a resource because those of us at, at so the Current System needs to be changed and expanded to continue to clean reliably in the future. In the meantime, the sewage plant analysts have been hard at work in the labs. Now the results of the extensive tests, irene. Ah, and all, i look on the loo knob on here. We have the analysis report. Is that the main finding the standard of aut . Well, the sewage of both parisians and berlin is, looks pretty similar. Ah, the largest chair of the one late as sample is of course water. Second is the so called cools matter a mix of a wide variety of materials. Sand from the streets, bio mass from theses, and so on. In the 3rd major group, the scientists find carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen excrete it through urine and sees some of which are already dissolved in the water. Ah, but are there any differences between berlin and paris . Subaru, ocean got bows. Were there any surprises in our sample . Not really thought it was all within a range that we would expect published. But what was interesting is that we have completely Different Levels compared to the power sample, cuz i would not have thought that histidine. Oh, other levels. In fact, all the substance groups studied are about twice as high in berlin as they are in paris. See each man and ru slow are amazed by the vast difference they had not expected, such large deviations. But why of the levels in paris . Only half as high . Is it the water consumption for showering cooking and toilet flushing . A berlin i uses around 110. 00 late as of Drinking Water per day. A parisian use is 120 to 150 late has a little more, but too little for such a difference. The reason probably has to do with paris is 150 year old. So a system its crumbling in many places. Large amounts of groundwater as well as run off from construction sites and various cleaning flow into it. So its not a case of parisians and berlin is ex, greeting different amounts of nutrients. In the Current System, micro organisms break down a large part of the nutrients in the waste water, which are found in the bio mass at the bottom of the tanks. The sludge is then usually burned afterwards to produce heat and electricity. The nutrients burn up as well or on the guarded with the ash. Ah, this is particularly disastrous in the case of phosphorus, an increasingly scarce rule element. Experts estimate that the natural deposits from moroccan chinese and american mines will only last for another 50 to 100 years but can phosphorus not be recovered from sewage . The vast months doff Treatment Plant in berlin is working on this challenge. Plant boss michelle kemp, shows how it could be done ah, it does in here use your kettle sewage sludge is bubbling in this oversize pot. Its heated to 80 degrees celsius and then mixed with magnesium chloride. O daughters of hair done and then magnesium, ammonium, phosphate comes out. Id always magnesium, ammonium, phosphate forms, and settles on the boiler floor when dry. Its a gray powder containing about 10 percent of the phosphorus from the sewage. Sludge is a father, then these phosphates have been specially precipitated here. Im can now be used as fertilizer. No bad. Unfortunately producing the fertilizer is still too expensive to be competitive. Back to the sewage comparison. What about the trace particle analysis . Thomas napa and nicholas cooker analyzed the waste water of the 2 large cities for more than 80 substances has decides drug residues, both medicinal and elicit as well as other chemicals from urban areas. Were the criteria, and what were the results via hm rushed, were vieza, which mats were the policy that we found quite high levels of the paint color . Paracetamol in the paris Treatment Plant, inflow around point one, milligrams per liter, conclude which is very unusual on govern dish between paris and berlin. Sewage paracetamol is present in a ratio of 3. 00 to 1. 00. Quite the difference. Ah, its a one time sample. So the results could be pure chance. Only regular measurements over several weeks would clarify where the paracetamol use is actually higher in paris. Still, thomas, can epa has a suspicion . Ah, does it sat on like this thesis at snyder vehicle of an informal young endorsement brochure . I was lucius, it may be because this medicine is only available like this at pharmacies in germany and, and is just an over the counter drug in paris. Escape is he that would have to be verified them o m him or perhaps because different pain killers are preferred and different populations when im, ah, but no class of substances better illustrates this subtle ways in which residues tail of urban affairs. Then narcotics. Here analysts find a rich assortment of drugs are in good, clear, found hardly any difference in cocaine concentrations, between berlin and paris, or in berlin. However, we measured a much higher concentration of amphetamines. Afield in paris, we were unable to detect any amphetamines and much lower concentrations. Of methamphetamines and m. D a may causing eloquence and consume cocaine is used in both cities, not so with ecstasy and speed. Berlin is consumed more of these than parisians. This is confirmed by a europe wide study comparing urban and municipal wastewater residues. In this study, berlin is a far ahead of parisians, in ecstasy, consumption surpassed only by zurich, utrecht and amsterdam. How much sewage reveals, is shown by a research project, can epa and cook a working on with the federal criminal police office. The project same is to track down drug and explosives, laboratories, actually the research is confidential. But for this documentary, the scientists opened the left doors is not as functional as it turns out, why is waste water so compelling disposal . Its directional and understood. If something enters the sewage system, at any point, i can predict when and where it could be found was indulged in once. Which opens on cocaine speed met, synthetic drugs cant simply be picked from the tree, but have to be cooked in the lab. These produces large amounts of chemical waste, lucon history from unfair to mean an illegal amphetamine production about 30 kilograms of waste are generated to produce one kilogram of drugs from tons of corrosive and sometimes highly toxic liquids left behind as waste in the production of synthetic drugs, drunk cooks often stole them near their labs and later move on to another location. All they simply pull them into the nearest body of water. Time and again, they also pull the dangerous brew into the sewage system. What ah, can the criminals be caught in the act . To find out the chemists are installing a highly complex, measuring machine at a Sewage Treatment plant in hess, it cook and connect that develops the device themselves. It works all autonomy asleep and can detect a large number of tray substances in real time. The idea, if a suspicious substance reaches the treatment planned inflow, it automatically triggers an alarm. In numerous experiments, the research is test, how reliable the machine is at the inflow, but also many kilometers away. They pull chemicals from drug production into the sewage system and then check whether the device detects the substances. And indeed, despite tiny quantities and long distances, it succeeds with this knowledge, investigators can now work their way up from sewer in flow to sewage in float sampling everywhere. Eventually reaching the hidden lab, the system is still in the pilot phase. So will Europe Police soon be preemptively and comprehensively scanning waste water for suspicious substances . This im in funds and setting up Sensor Networks is of course of that of science fiction. And then we have to ask if this is what we want as a society woods. Ah, ah, the a vog labs in switzerland one of the largest Water Research institutes in the world. Here engineer kite ood, it examines a substance that disgusts many human urine. O, as, as the goal is to recover the nutrients from the urine. Those move all the nutrients, not just nitrogen, and not just phosphorus, squawk to recycle all the ingredients. However, who does needs the urine in its pure form, not mixed with theses and other waste. Ah, a unique Research Building shows that this is not so difficult. The recently opened water hub. Ah, the modern building houses, apartments, offices and conference rooms. Ah. But chi would at, hes clearly focused on something else. Ah. Was its of to the to mission though, even if you cant see it from the toilet. But the urine is separated at the front of this when you sit down and painted, the urine flow slowly down the wall. The pheasant opening here and the year and flows into it. Shes when you flush off to its a flush water actually flows over this opening ross and almost no water gets into this year. And im a kind of t post effect. Most of the urine flows into the narrow opening below the bulge, the torrent of water that flushes down the theses bub, so that the opening ah, the various waste waters then reach the basement via separate pipes. The shower and washing machine water is only slightly contaminated and is therefore cold light grey water. Heavy grey water comes from the dishwasher. For example. It contains fats and oils. So hes dirtier, black water transports the theses and yellow water urine on that the so in, in this, in the, in this, were in this pumped into this reactor here on the brown o me see here is bacteria. Ah, p contains large amounts of ammonium. Normally the substance gases into the air causing that unpleasant oda who dead bacteria though converted into ammonium nitrate. This means the urine no longer stinks, and more importantly, the nitrogen from the compound is retained. Would it then passes the bacterial mixture through an activated carbon filter to extract the drug residues the moment isnt constantly internal than solomon honda far for during the former now strength. Then you get this concentrated fertilizer. It has to be diluted 100 to one before use this and it looks like this. So brown, las vegas and now it doesnt smell like urine does. And this is a very safe process. Its also site of the from federal department of economics has actually given us a fertilizer permit for this product. Looks not bad, but what about black water . Thats what Linda Estrada and her team are investigating. A few labs down now is tease people like i when i was 6 years old. I always knew i wanted to be a scientist. But obviously thats not true. To make something useful out of the fecal water mixture, they swirl it in small Sample Containers and treat it with so called conditioners. A lot of people think of thats what i put in my hair in the morning. And so they are chemicals that we add to the solution that can change the charged properties. So that ab particles can come together because because when theyre dispersed, theyre floating in the liquid earth does after the liquid. Can we bring them together and then they can settle out and then we can remove them. So condition is ensure that the solids clumped together, but exactly the right amount of chemical is needed. If too little is used, the solids remain dissolved too much, and the stirring rod gums up as we see clearly in the experiment ah ah, the separated faces can be processed into compost or burned as pellets. Shronda sees the future in the centralized menu, a processing plants, instead of pumping waste water over long distances to treatment plans. It could be used locally. So if we can look at smaller scale systems that dont require Drinking Water to transport our waists, then we can treat closer to the source. We use less energy with more resource recovery. Arianna crowder is from the light in its institute of vegetable and ornamental crops in girls barren south of berlin. I thought shes investigating a system that works without water is transport. The Research Team has set up dry toilets at several locations in the city. They also separate urine and feces using the tea pot effect, but do not use water to flush the faces. An turn la vandal, bach, her a normal flushing toilet for inside a war, weve got odd material. The scientists regularly collect the theses from a tank. Processing continues at the local landfill. Ah ah, the straw and feces mixture is placed in a container which can be tightly sealed. Inside the bio mass begins to ferment reaching temperatures of up to 70 degrees celsius and killing pathogens and germs. Oh, ah, come posting, begin. 7 weeks later, crowds and barca mixed the disinfected feces with plant charcoal and minerals and turn it regularly. After 8 weeks. The menu is ready to stand here and who wants to know. Here, as andromeda were producing a human fertilizer to be added to the soil reference again about its supposed to nourish the plans in and also to maintain the humans in the soil. Beth, this is very important for long term loyal fertility, and wouldnt. Thats why because humans enables the soil to store water and nutrients below the hotel. Now baldness blue in the future, at festivals, straight parties and construction science, dry toilets could replace chemical ones. But processing human waste in metropolitan areas like paris sent berlin completely without water would be a radical change. Converting the old system is costly and for many people, unattractive as each household would have to collect its own excrement. Blue in paris, their 1st trying a new ultra filtration plant that cleans the waste water before it enters the sand. Ah, of us fail, theyll said those. It happens in the 2nd part where we installed 0. 035 micron ultra filtration membrane 0, which is really very, very small. Do puberty base a wastewater Treatment Plants a to realize a grand dream in paris. At the 2024 olympics, the swimming competitions will be held in the sen directly in front of the eiffel tower. In berlin, the waste Water Treatment system is also being improved here in ozone treatment system and on you phosphorus filter a being built by a d z ng without very tight walter cycle. We have to think about future generations to wondering belinda is want the spray to become a swimming area. The swimming competition that takes place regularly shows that already further along than in paris. This may also be because the decades berlin has been discharging wastewater into nearby lakes, including take a lake in summer, countless people use the lake, so the Water Quality has to be right. Berlin achieves this. We the natural help, the lake water seeps into the sandy soil over many decades. In the process, the water is cleaned and gradually flows into the ground. Water pumped up. Its good enough to drink. Nature has strong cleansing power, but it has its limits. The challenge is to find a finely balanced system that protects the environment and at the same time in shows that the treasures of waste water a not lost a vibrant and an glistening place of longing. The mediterranean sea, its waters connect people of many cultures. Jennifer, im doing kareem, exploring the land of the pharaohs in egypt. Contrast Shape Society in 30 minutes on d. W. Oh sh. Im just kinda i think thats hard and in the end its a me, you are not a lot to see you anymore. We will send you back. Are you familiar with this with the smugglers reliance of the whats your story. Ready i mean, wasnt, i was women, especially and victims of violence in take part and send us your story. We are trying always to understand this new culture. So you are not a visitor, not the guests. You want to become a citizen in full migrants, your platform for reliable information. Ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin. Pakistans government calls devastating flooding. A climate catastrophe. Relentless monsoon reigns kill more than a 1000 people. Critics, a poor planning and corruption are also to blame. Hope francis celebrates mass in a
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