The Olympic Village is now open and athletes are getting their first taste of the Olympic Games. But thanks to Thames Water, The Games may be greener than many athletes realise. Most of the water used for irrigation and for flushing toilets at the site has already been used just hours earlier by people in north London.
The Old Ford water recycling plant at The Game’s site in Stratford uses a state-of-the-art treatment process, which processes the sewage sent there by people in north London into non-drinkable water usable for irrigation and toilet flushing.
The output of the plant means that athletes can flush their loos 80,000 times per day and is supplied to the Olympic Park via its own water system so it doesn’t mix with fresh water.
Richard Benyon the Water Minister said:
“It is our goal to create a safe and sustainable water supply in the future and projects such as this have a crucial role to play. By using ‘black water’, which is safely recycled, the Old Ford plant will stop fresh water being used where it isn’t needed, helping to make this the greenest games ever.”
The use of waste water for flushing and irrigation means the use of drinking water is decreased by 58%.
In addition Thames Water’s head of innovation Rupert Kruger added:
“It’s amazing to think the world’s elite athletes are using recycled sewage, sent down U-bends at homes in north London just a day or so earlier, to flush loos at the greatest sporting event on earth.”