{"id":2220,"date":"2020-08-19T16:57:53","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T16:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/?p=2220"},"modified":"2020-08-19T20:39:27","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T20:39:27","slug":"going-with-the-flow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/2020\/08\/going-with-the-flow\/","title":{"rendered":"The FLOW: the story behind the stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introducing the RECIRCULATE blogs, and the background to the project and its research.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are reading this, then there is a good chance you might also have read the description of The FLOW<\/strong> at the top of this section of the RECIRCULATE website. That description talks about The FLOW<\/strong> as the stories behind the project\u2019s research, written by those closest to the work of the project and to the challenges and solutions associated with the \u201ccircular water economy\u201d. That might still leave you with questions about the details of this GCRF-funded<\/a> project and why we want you to read the stories behind the research. I hope that this blog will answer those questions.<\/p>\n

Your first question might be why have we have called our collected stories \u201cThe FLOW<\/strong>\u201d? One reason for that name emerges from the concept that is the basis of the whole RECIRCULATE project – the “Circular water economy<\/a>“. For us, the flow of water and other materials in the circular water economy starts with waste, including human waste. As you\u2019ll have realised, \u2018other materials\u2019 is a euphemism. I can share with you something I have learned from working with my RECIRCULATE colleagues. That is that I can legitimately write about \u201cshit flow diagrams<\/a>\u201d here. \u201cSFDs\u201d to the initiated, they are entirely respectable elements in the science and engineering of sanitation. For RECIRCULATE, SFDs integrate with the production of energy from waste<\/a>, and new approaches to fertilising<\/a> and irrigating<\/a> crops. Understanding this flow of materials in the circular water economy is central to RECIRCULATE, but it\u2019s not the only flow that is important for us.<\/p>\n