"Wasteland"

An article posted in Harper's Magazine in 2008 by Frederick Kaufman discusses a different approach to overpopulation other than clean water access.  This article discusses the waste treatment system and how the current system is overflowing.  With so many people using city septic systems, it has become full, forcing some people to use septic tanks in their backyard to dispose of their waste.  This causes backups that overflow the toilet and bathtub, overflowing septic tanks and causes damage that the homeowner must pay for.  Despite sewage pipes right outside their homes, they are not allowed to use them.  Is it a persons right to be able to use such city sewage pipelines?
Deeper in the article, it discusses the technology involved in massive sewage treatment plants.  They can extract caffeine, heroin, mercury, all on an atomic scale.  Sewage treatment has become a business.  Human waste can be used for many things.  They sell it to the middle east for fertilizer, and when ocean dumping was still legal "It was the best fishing ground around".  While natural decomposition of waste taking nearly 2 years, most sewage treatment plants can do it in 6 hours.  With all the new technology, many good things can come from human waste, making it not waste at all.