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One of the first exhibits in San Francisco Exploratorium is a toilet with a water fountain and a description explaining that it's from a clean water source. Kno

One of the first exhibits in San Francisco Exploratorium is a toilet with a water fountain and a description explaining that it's from a clean water source. Knowing this, would you still drink the water from the toilet? It's such a fascinating exercise in psychology. The urine to drinkable water obviously takes this one step further. https://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/a-sip-of-conflict https://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/a-sip-of-conflict

davidw 2y ago
IDK... given how dumb people can be: Reward: some water you can easily get elsewhere. Risk: someone like a security guard or employee peed in it at some point because they're a jerk.
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  Unless it's different than the one I've used the fountain comes from the supply, not the tank. So it doesn't matter if anybody peed in it.
  - davidw 2y ago
    If it's a dude peeing in it, it'd splash a bit.
    - bryanlarsen 2y ago
      And why would that matter? You're not drinking from a cup, but a fountain. All the water you're drinking would have been in the pipe while the dude was peeing.
- et-al 2y ago
  It's just a water fountain that happens to be mounted on a toilet bowl. They're not sourcing their own water. The worst thing that could happen is the person in front of you spits on the outlet (like kids do in elementary school in America).
  - iszomer 2y ago
    It can always be worse: remember the story news outlets touted about a Japanese scientist who created meat from human excrement which was debunked, TIL today? https://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2011/07/08/meat-made-from-human-feces-hoax-or-japans-best-new-invention/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2011/07/08/meat-m...
et-al 2y ago
I've drank from this fountain. With a stillsuit, I think it would be more palatable because you don't have the visual connotation right in front of you unlike the Exploratorium exhibit.
- SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
  Not the visuals, sure, but there's the question of the salt (they say it's reclaimed, I don't know where it ends up) - we probably want all those back, and the fact that it would be body temperature.
MarkSweep 2y ago
This is not far from a real product in Japan: a toilet with a hand washing sink on the top. Presumably the water used to wash your hands is reused flush, saving water. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sink-toilet-japan/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sink-toilet-japan/

davidw 2y ago

IDK... given how dumb people can be: Reward: some water you can easily get elsewhere. Risk: someone like a security guard or employee peed in it at some point because they're a jerk.

bryanlarsen 2y ago
Unless it's different than the one I've used the fountain comes from the supply, not the tank. So it doesn't matter if anybody peed in it.
- davidw 2y ago
  If it's a dude peeing in it, it'd splash a bit.
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    And why would that matter? You're not drinking from a cup, but a fountain. All the water you're drinking would have been in the pipe while the dude was peeing.
et-al 2y ago
It's just a water fountain that happens to be mounted on a toilet bowl. They're not sourcing their own water. The worst thing that could happen is the person in front of you spits on the outlet (like kids do in elementary school in America).
- iszomer 2y ago
  It can always be worse: remember the story news outlets touted about a Japanese scientist who created meat from human excrement which was debunked, TIL today? https://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2011/07/08/meat-made-from-human-feces-hoax-or-japans-best-new-invention/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2011/07/08/meat-m...

et-al 2y ago

I've drank from this fountain. With a stillsuit, I think it would be more palatable because you don't have the visual connotation right in front of you unlike the Exploratorium exhibit.

SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
Not the visuals, sure, but there's the question of the salt (they say it's reclaimed, I don't know where it ends up) - we probably want all those back, and the fact that it would be body temperature.

MarkSweep 2y ago

This is not far from a real product in Japan: a toilet with a hand washing sink on the top. Presumably the water used to wash your hands is reused flush, saving water. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sink-toilet-japan/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sink-toilet-japan/