Jubilee on Earth
May 8th, 2008, 08:15 AM
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-07-sewers-main_N.htm?csp=34
America's sewers are showing their age.
Deteriorating pipes, overwhelmed by volumes of water they were never designed to carry, release billions of gallons of raw sewage into rivers and streams each year. The spills make people sick, threaten local drinking water and kill aquatic animals and plants...
...But the improvements can't keep up with problems affecting the thousands of miles of sewer pipes snaking underground through each community. Foul-smelling waste gurgles from manholes and gushes down streams and rivers somewhere in the U.S. almost every day.
I had no idea. How awful is this? It sounds like only a matter of time before entire communities get sick from this sewage spill-overs.
What was even more astounding was the column on the left of this article, which relayed recent instances of sewage overflow:
Examples of recent, major sewage spills. Some of these municipal sewer authorities already have been fined or face other enforcement action for these or other spills.
• A mechanical failure at Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's Piscataway Wastewater Treatment Plant in Maryland sent millions of gallons of raw sewage into nearby Piscataway Creek in February.
• A 42-inch pipe ruptured near Fritz Island wastewater treatment plant in Reading, Pa., in January. while repairs were completed.
• Heavy rain, combined with deteriorating pipes, overwhelmed a Marin County, Calif., wastewater treatment plant in January, spilling 2.45 million gallons of sewage into Richardson Bay, which connects to San Francisco Bay. Days later, an additional 2.7 million gallons of sewage spilled into the same bay when operators failed to engage all of the treatment plant's pumps.
• In August 2007, a ruptured sewer pipe spilled millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Hudson River just north of New York City.
• Improper excavation near Cary, N.C., ruptured a pipe and spilled approximately 8 million gallons of raw sewage into Swift Creek, Lake Wheeler and Lake Benson in June 2006.
• A pressurized sewer pipe in Honolulu burst in March 2006, spilling 48 million gallons of sewage into Ala Wai canal, which runs into the Pacific Ocean. High levels of bacteria detected in coastal waters closed Waikiki beaches for a week.
• About 14 million gallons of untreated sewage flowed into San Diego Bay between 2004 and 2006 due to improper construction of a Navy barracks high-rise.
• About 7.8 million gallons of raw sewage poured into White Clay Creek in Wilmington, Del., for 13 hours in August 2007 after a pump station switch and an alarm failed.
Sounds like we're just hanging by a thread...
:hanging
America's sewers are showing their age.
Deteriorating pipes, overwhelmed by volumes of water they were never designed to carry, release billions of gallons of raw sewage into rivers and streams each year. The spills make people sick, threaten local drinking water and kill aquatic animals and plants...
...But the improvements can't keep up with problems affecting the thousands of miles of sewer pipes snaking underground through each community. Foul-smelling waste gurgles from manholes and gushes down streams and rivers somewhere in the U.S. almost every day.
I had no idea. How awful is this? It sounds like only a matter of time before entire communities get sick from this sewage spill-overs.
What was even more astounding was the column on the left of this article, which relayed recent instances of sewage overflow:
Examples of recent, major sewage spills. Some of these municipal sewer authorities already have been fined or face other enforcement action for these or other spills.
• A mechanical failure at Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's Piscataway Wastewater Treatment Plant in Maryland sent millions of gallons of raw sewage into nearby Piscataway Creek in February.
• A 42-inch pipe ruptured near Fritz Island wastewater treatment plant in Reading, Pa., in January. while repairs were completed.
• Heavy rain, combined with deteriorating pipes, overwhelmed a Marin County, Calif., wastewater treatment plant in January, spilling 2.45 million gallons of sewage into Richardson Bay, which connects to San Francisco Bay. Days later, an additional 2.7 million gallons of sewage spilled into the same bay when operators failed to engage all of the treatment plant's pumps.
• In August 2007, a ruptured sewer pipe spilled millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Hudson River just north of New York City.
• Improper excavation near Cary, N.C., ruptured a pipe and spilled approximately 8 million gallons of raw sewage into Swift Creek, Lake Wheeler and Lake Benson in June 2006.
• A pressurized sewer pipe in Honolulu burst in March 2006, spilling 48 million gallons of sewage into Ala Wai canal, which runs into the Pacific Ocean. High levels of bacteria detected in coastal waters closed Waikiki beaches for a week.
• About 14 million gallons of untreated sewage flowed into San Diego Bay between 2004 and 2006 due to improper construction of a Navy barracks high-rise.
• About 7.8 million gallons of raw sewage poured into White Clay Creek in Wilmington, Del., for 13 hours in August 2007 after a pump station switch and an alarm failed.
Sounds like we're just hanging by a thread...
:hanging