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stringent of water requirements (such as California Title 22 for reuse).‘Toxic Sewage is turned into at least B-grade water after passing through the (Baleen and Disinfection) systems’ Tim Scholz, Mayor of Wudinna District Council, South Australia, May 2009But there is more to Baleen than just filtration. What makes Baleen truly unique rests in its ability to separate traditionally unfilterable organic matter in a naturally thickened state to present byproduct opportunities. The choice of whether to use Baleen is a matter of simple economics – separated ‘waste’ has energy value while filtered ‘water’ (containing free fertiliser in the form of nitrates and phosphates) has reuse value. These deliverables promote an immediate opportunity for a green future in waste water infrastructure with scalable circular economies. Studies and practice have shown that flora, bacteria, worms, snails, insects and other soil organisms pose a healthy appetite for sewage and if managed wisely can overcome humanity’s shortcomings with Mother Nature.‘Over 30,000 sewer overflows discharge untreated sewage into UK rivers and beaches, many are unregulated and over used.’ Surfers Against Sewage 2016The good news is that water re-use is progressively gaining acceptance, but we must expedite this endeavour. Technological enhancements during the past two decades have made Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technologies the best available technology for approaches to treatment and re-use. With a footprint 2-4 times smaller than conventional treatment processes, MBRs deliver unmatched effluent quality at 50 per cent less operating cost. But MBRs are horrendously expensive to maintain.There is, however, an equally scalable technology, known as Baleen, which is already playing a critical role in advancing reuse opportunities as an alternative approach or as a cost-saving adjunct to higher purity water. Baleen is demonstrably the most affordable technology available to deliver required quality standards for water reuse. In comparison to MBR, Baleen requires just one-third of the footprint and operates at less than 5 per cent of the cost while still complying with the most Above: Yuri Obst withclean-safe ‘Water’ from ‘WasteWater’ in just 3 stepsRight: ‘WasteWater’contains energy-rich waste070 WATER SECURITY