The view from the top of Altamonte Springs’ wastewater plant is of brown water gushing into open tanks.

On the ground and a short walk away, city manager Frank Martz stood during a recent morning in a warehouse of laboratory-like gear. From a black hose, he filled a tall glass with water purified from that torrent of incoming sewage.Altamonte Springs city manager Frank Martz fills a glas with potable water produced from sewage effluent. (Kevin Spear / Orlando Sentinel)

He drank it all in unbroken slugs.

Martz is energetically optimistic that his moment of refreshment previewed the future of potable water.