I heard from a colleague the other day that they once ate fruit from plants GROWN IN POOP WATER.
I couldn’t believe this at first. (Frankly, I didn’t want to believe it…)
My first question: Why?
My second question…
WHY??
Even if you’re not in the water industry, you can probably imagine that what ends up after 1,000’s of people flush their toilets is a gross, icky, unimaginable substance.
So, eating fruit grown in it sounds like the last thing I’d ever want to do.
But here at Organica I’m starting to get used to how we do things… which, admittedly, is a bit unconventional.
A quick background – Instead of giant, concrete, ugly, smelly wastewater treatment facilities we build beautiful, energy efficient, and odor free gardens.
They are smaller, more cost effective, and do just as good a job as conventional facilities.
Anyway, back to the fruit.
A fruit growing off the branch of a tree in one of Organica’s wastewater treatment facilities.
I found out talking to our Horticultural and Innovation Specialist, László Tutor while not ALL of the plants used in these reclamation gardens are edible… we do have to use a number of species to create a diverse and sturdy plant stock.
Because of this, it’s unavoidable to use plants bearing tasty fruits, edible leaves, and spectacular flowers.
In this case, Tuti actually tried the small bananas of the dwarf Musa acuminata growing from the wastewater and said that they were “especially savory.”
Maybe I should reconsider who I work with… 😊
If, like me, you’re wondering if these fruits should be eaten – No. No, they shouldn’t. Tons of studies have shown it’s not safe to eat fruits and vegetables grown in contaminated water.
So, while I won’t be eating any of these fruits anytime soon and nobody else should be either, this learning experience really opened my eyes and changed my outlook on how I view water and innovation in my industry.
Suresh Muthusamy, Senior Director – Sales ASEAN, holding up a piece of fruit from a tree in an Organica wastewater facility in Jakarta, Indonesia.
