GOOD BUGS BEING DEBUGGED?

My wife is an antiques dealer. So, it is inevitable that I become involved in her hunting activities from time to time. A couple of days ago, I was scanning a listing for a farm auction. In addition to the typical farm items--such as chicken feeders, manure spreaders and tractor parts--was an outhouse. Now, there must be a story there, such as the owners were retiring and did not want to take their outhouse with them to their new apartment. However, I am not sure how marketable an outhouse is as a collectible antique.

But, I got to thinking how simple a concept an outhouse is for wastewater disposal. Modern wastewater collection, treatment and effluent disposal can be rather complicated, and of course, is highly regulated.

For example, hand sanitizers have become popular, not only in hospitals but in homes, in stores and even at gas stations. A recent report suggests that triclosan, an antimicrobial commonly found in products such as soaps, sanitizers and toothpaste, may interfere with the biological actions by microbes necessary to break down solids in wastewater treatment plant processes.* The report also suggests that antimicrobials may facilitate growth of microbes immune to drugs.

Is regulation of antimicrobials in wastewater coming soon? How would that be accomplished? The only apparent methodology to reduce levels in wastewater is to cause users to use less of sanitizers and sanitized soaps and other products. How the federal government may think it can do that will be interesting to see. Perhaps EPA could give grants to everyone to build outhouses, in which case I might want to attend that farm auction and bid on one. But, even outhouses depend on biological action by good bugs.

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*"Triclosan May Spoil Wastewater Treatment".
Science News, July 26, 2014, p.9