Friday, November 29, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Dig's Thanksgiving Post
The new post from Michelle this evening - the holiday schedule and a thank you!
Read it at this link:
http://www.diglososos.com/2013/11/25/holiday-work-thanksgiving/
Do NOT miss the photos at the bottom - really cute!
Read it at this link:
http://www.diglososos.com/2013/11/25/holiday-work-thanksgiving/
Do NOT miss the photos at the bottom - really cute!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Starting December for Dig Los Osos....
......new office hours:
Off the Dig site:
Effective 12/1/13 office hours will be held only on Thursdays from 9 am to 11 am, or by appointment.
http://www.diglososos.com/contact/
Off the Dig site:
Effective 12/1/13 office hours will be held only on Thursdays from 9 am to 11 am, or by appointment.
http://www.diglososos.com/contact/
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Sewer Geeks! Important Water Board Update!
Friday, December 6, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
Save the date, don't miss this meeting!
Central Coast Water Board
895 Aerovista Place, Suite 101, San Luis Obispo
See the agenda and related documents off this link.
World Toilet Day!
Darn, we missed it, it was yesterday! Well, check out the link here to see what it was about. Be sure to click through all the pictures as they are rather fun! You can go out apparently to celebrate, or you can celebrate at home!
However, it is very sobering to see what the lack of sanitation can cause. An excellent book on the topic is The Big Necessity The Unmentionable World of Human Waste And Why It Matters by Rose George. A fascinating read.
Los Osos is having its own daily toilet celebration I guess, seeing that the aim of the World Toilet Day was SANITATION! Our sewer project is moving along swiftly in the attempt to clean up the disgusting fact of, dare I say it? (sure, why not, it's my blog), peeing and pooping right on top of our water supply! Ugh. UGH. UGH!
A major side note to the cleaning up of things beyond water in Los Osos will occur Wednesday afternoon, November 20, 4:00 p.m. at the District Office on 9th Street. The BANKRUPTCY. This meeting is for the directors to vote on transferring the solid waste franchise to the County for $2.8 million. Read all about the meeting here.
This quote out of the staff report outlines a brief history:
For perspective, the entire operating budget of the District has been around $4.9 million yearly, but with the income from the Solid Waste Franchise gone, it will now be less. The periodic rate adjustments to our bills will no longer be determined by our LOCSD board, but by the County. The $151,000 in yearly franchise income, flushed down the toilet as it were. And that is the event on our agenda for the day after World Toilet Day. Get the facts here.
However, it is very sobering to see what the lack of sanitation can cause. An excellent book on the topic is The Big Necessity The Unmentionable World of Human Waste And Why It Matters by Rose George. A fascinating read.
Los Osos is having its own daily toilet celebration I guess, seeing that the aim of the World Toilet Day was SANITATION! Our sewer project is moving along swiftly in the attempt to clean up the disgusting fact of, dare I say it? (sure, why not, it's my blog), peeing and pooping right on top of our water supply! Ugh. UGH. UGH!
A major side note to the cleaning up of things beyond water in Los Osos will occur Wednesday afternoon, November 20, 4:00 p.m. at the District Office on 9th Street. The BANKRUPTCY. This meeting is for the directors to vote on transferring the solid waste franchise to the County for $2.8 million. Read all about the meeting here.
This quote out of the staff report outlines a brief history:
As a result of the District's termination of the wastewater project being constructed under contract to the District, the creditors filed a series of claims and initiated legal action against the District. As a result of those actions, the District declared Bankruptcy in August of 2006. The total amount of the creditor's claims at that time exceeded $46,500,000.The bankruptcy was finally, finally approved on October 9, 2013 and this transfer is the last thing to be done to conclude these years of stress and I'd say torture even, imposed by a clueless, feckless board on its successors and our town. Fortunately for us, the final settlement amount was whittled down to a mere $11,396,505.
For perspective, the entire operating budget of the District has been around $4.9 million yearly, but with the income from the Solid Waste Franchise gone, it will now be less. The periodic rate adjustments to our bills will no longer be determined by our LOCSD board, but by the County. The $151,000 in yearly franchise income, flushed down the toilet as it were. And that is the event on our agenda for the day after World Toilet Day. Get the facts here.
Friday, November 08, 2013
Infeasible Is Not A Dirty Word
Much ado has been made in the blogoshpere and public meetings of late over "dewatering." For those who have not chosen to fully live every phase of the sewer project, or prefer to leave water matters in the hands of the professionals, this water is that which is being pumped out of the trenches where the contractors are putting in the sewer pipe in the low lying areas. It is important to know that 1) You cannot lay and seal the pipe in water; 2) Anywhere from 300,000 gallons to 1 million gallons of water is going into the bay DAILY as a matter of natural course.
The County and contractors have been under fire by certain long-standing sewer critics for not using all of that water for recharge (at Tri-W, or rather the Mid-Town site, gets as much as it can percolate), or for dust control on the roads. And at Broderson. Some of that water has been pumped into the bay as there has been no other feasible place to put it, meaning trucking it "somewhere" or running pipe and pumps to some of the town's drainage basins would have had huge logistical and cost impacts.
The most definitive answer regarding Broderson, the place the sewer critics are pushing to put it lately, came from the County yesterday in the form of a letter from Dave Flynn, Deputy Director of Public Works to Kenneth A. Harris, Executive Director of the Central Coast Regional Water Control Board. Broderson is not feasible. Read the attached letter to see why.
The point is, the low lying areas needed to be dug up when there is no rain. Broderson has been a very lengthy process with all of the environmental work that was necessary and the project could not wait around for it to be finished.
To habitually scream 8 to 16 million gallons of water going into the bay!, with NO ACTUAL figures is just plain wrong, not to mention the irresponsibility of churning up panic or anger in the general populace by false statements. We now know that since July, there has been on average 750,000 gallons of dewatering a day. The average land disposal per day has been 550,000 gallons per day; of that, 400,000 gallons per day to Tri-W and 150,000 gallons per day used for construction purposes. So an average of 200,000 gallons of water is going into the bay (keep in mind 300,000 gallons goes in there NATURALLY).
So what is all this about? Critics latching onto a plausible-sounding argument with which to bash the County. Frankly, that just sucks and I am pretty sick of it.
I can only hope that County will consider the source of this dissension; it is tiny, long-standing in hating-every-aspect-of-this-or-any-other-doable-sewer-project, and while annoying, very annoying, it is only a small part of the populace who is otherwise getting along good-naturedly with the bumps and beauties of the project.
The County and contractors have been under fire by certain long-standing sewer critics for not using all of that water for recharge (at Tri-W, or rather the Mid-Town site, gets as much as it can percolate), or for dust control on the roads. And at Broderson. Some of that water has been pumped into the bay as there has been no other feasible place to put it, meaning trucking it "somewhere" or running pipe and pumps to some of the town's drainage basins would have had huge logistical and cost impacts.
The most definitive answer regarding Broderson, the place the sewer critics are pushing to put it lately, came from the County yesterday in the form of a letter from Dave Flynn, Deputy Director of Public Works to Kenneth A. Harris, Executive Director of the Central Coast Regional Water Control Board. Broderson is not feasible. Read the attached letter to see why.
The point is, the low lying areas needed to be dug up when there is no rain. Broderson has been a very lengthy process with all of the environmental work that was necessary and the project could not wait around for it to be finished.
To habitually scream 8 to 16 million gallons of water going into the bay!, with NO ACTUAL figures is just plain wrong, not to mention the irresponsibility of churning up panic or anger in the general populace by false statements. We now know that since July, there has been on average 750,000 gallons of dewatering a day. The average land disposal per day has been 550,000 gallons per day; of that, 400,000 gallons per day to Tri-W and 150,000 gallons per day used for construction purposes. So an average of 200,000 gallons of water is going into the bay (keep in mind 300,000 gallons goes in there NATURALLY).
So what is all this about? Critics latching onto a plausible-sounding argument with which to bash the County. Frankly, that just sucks and I am pretty sick of it.
I can only hope that County will consider the source of this dissension; it is tiny, long-standing in hating-every-aspect-of-this-or-any-other-doable-sewer-project, and while annoying, very annoying, it is only a small part of the populace who is otherwise getting along good-naturedly with the bumps and beauties of the project.
Another Sort Of Sewer Tour
Yesterday I posted a different sort of sewer tour. One that was lighthearded. This video is hard core, depressing. You might not want to watch it. Sewers have different uses. I guess these people are glad they have someplace to hide.
Anyone whining about what is happening here really needs a reality check about what happens in the other parts of the world.
Thank you Thomas Morton for making this video.
Anyone whining about what is happening here really needs a reality check about what happens in the other parts of the world.
Thank you Thomas Morton for making this video.
Thursday, November 07, 2013
Plan Ahead For Your Summer Vacation in Paris!
I ran across this video on YouTube and thought we sewerphiles might like to view the sewer tour under the streets in Paris. This place has a sewer museum! I'm not sure that we could apply that idea here, but we do have a rather famous sewer history in Los Osos. We could sell manhole cover keychains, grinder pump coffee grinders (scaled down of course), sewer rats (ours would have to be pretty small, our pipes are dinky), and Eau de Toilette, a scent yet to be determined!
Thanks to Chris of Yellow Productions!
Thanks to Chris of Yellow Productions!
Sunday, November 03, 2013
"Fatberg" in London Sewer
We septic tank users don't often, if ever, get a view into the tank. Because pumping is expensive, and we are sitting on top of our water source, most of us try to be mindful of what we put in there. But in 2016 we will all be hooked up to our new sewer, and since some of us are imports from cities where we really don't give much thought to what goes down the potty, here is a glimpse of what could happen, on a much smaller scale of course, to our spanking new pipes (try not to gasp or puke, or maybe just don't go to this link):
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2417381/The-Fatberg--bigger-Londons-dirty-secret-grown-THREE-tonnes-just-month.html
So think before flushing. Our town's collective septic system at Bayridge Estates had a blockage on October 24 due to large chunks of grease and wipes. So now is a good time to start practicing good sewer stewardship as ghastly as that sounds.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2417381/The-Fatberg--bigger-Londons-dirty-secret-grown-THREE-tonnes-just-month.html
So think before flushing. Our town's collective septic system at Bayridge Estates had a blockage on October 24 due to large chunks of grease and wipes. So now is a good time to start practicing good sewer stewardship as ghastly as that sounds.
Friday, November 01, 2013
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