"Brushing Teeth With Sewer Water Next Step as Texas Faces Drought"

"Pastor Bob McCartney of First Baptist Church tries to love his neighbor as himself. He’s just not thrilled that Wichita Falls will soon have him drinking water that once swirled down his neighbor’s toilet.

The Texas city of more than 104,000, suffering the worst drought on record, is about to become the first place in the U.S. to treat sewage and pump it directly back to residents. People who live in Wichita Falls, northwest of Dallas on the Oklahoma border, say they’ll buy more bottled water and try not to think about what’s flowing through their pipes when they bathe, brush their teeth and make soup.

'The idea is a bit grotesque,' said McCartney, 48, who has led prayer vigils for rain. 'I’m not crazy about it.'"

Darrell Preston reports for Bloomberg News April 21, 2014.