Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years. Yacold also

partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for

gut health, an investigator-led research program. To learn more about Yachtold, visit yawcult.co.com.j, that's Y-A-K-U-L-T.

C-O.J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacolt.

This is Scientific American 60-second science. I'm Cynthia Graber. Got a minute?

Sewers are a marvel. They allow us to live close together without cities turning into smelly, disease-spreading swamps.

In a sewer's anaerobic conditions, common sulfate compounds are reduced by bacteria to hydrogen sulfide, the source of that rotten egg smell.

And hydrogen sulfide, when exposed

to air, form sulfuric acid, which eats away at concrete. The result, crumbling sewers. The response

has been to try to remove sulfide from sewage water, but researchers in Australia asked a different

question, where does the original sulfate come from? Turns out much of it is from drinking

water treatment. Aluminum sulfate is added at 56% of the Australian drinking water plants tested

to coagulate solids out of the dirty water. That process is the source of more than half the

resulting sulfates in the sewage. Numbers are similar in the U.S. The scientists say that by switching

to non-sulfate-based coagulants,

governments worldwide could save a billion dollars a year in sewer repair costs. The research is in

the journal Science. Today, drinking water is managed separately from sewage treatment.

A related editorial calls for a holistic approach to water management that looks at the entire

water cycle and helps save sewers in the process.

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American 60 Second Science, I'm Cynthia Graver.