Finally! Recycled Water! And Monarch Grove Too!

AGENDA 

December 11, 2018 

County Government Center 

Board of Supervisors Chambers 

1055 Monterey Street | San Luis Obispo, CA 93408

Consent Agenda - Public Works Items:

28. Request to adopt the Rules and Regulations Governing the Distribution and Use of Recycled Water, Los Osos Recycled Water System San Luis Obispo County, August 2018; approve five agreements to deliver recycled water in the community of Los Osos with the Los Osos Community Services District, Golden State Water Company, S&T Mutual Water Company, and BSR (Sea Pines Golf Course); and approve the Amended and Restated Agreement for Mitigations Concerning Water Resources and Sewage Disposal for Tract 1589 (Monarch Grove). District 2.

You can access all the support documents here:
http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html?select=9379

And there is an amazing amount of stuff to read. 

Roger Randall (former SLO County judge) of the Monarch Grove Homeowners Association spoke at the meeting. Ron Munds (on our LOCSD Utilities Advisory Committee - and more importantly, is Utilities Division Manager of the County Public Works Department) spoke on some typos. Chuck Cesena and Linde Owen spoke - Chuck on the water to dry land farmers (bad, bad, bad), and Linde on who is held responsible if the recycled water is rotten, plus dry land farmers, and her perpetual complaint about the $9.95 million settlement with ARB. Mark Hutchinson, Deputy Director of Public Works was asked by Supervisor Bruce Gibson to explain just what contracts were being discussed today (NOT the dry land farmer contracts), and he said that issue would be revisited once the in-town areas were up and running on the recycled water.

Access the video here:
http://slocounty.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=46&clip_id=3107

Have Sludge, Will Travel!

I reported this past October on the sorry and costly state of Bayridge septic tank's dead sludge. Ten tanks need to have their expired (read: dead, dead, dead) sludge sucked up and carted off. For those inclined to read about that, follow the link below. The County has not come after the LOCSD waiving legal papers for non-compliance on emptying those tanks yet, but who like waiting around for that (————) to drop? They are not going to let those poop piles fall between the cracks.
 https://losewersaga.blogspot.com/2018/10/bayridges-stale-sludge.html

Thanks to the persistence of the LOCSD's Utilities Manager Jose Acosta and General Manager Renee Osborne, an excellent and wayyyyy cheaper solution has been found! Rather than the $110,000 mentioned at the last episode, a company called appropriately, East Bay MUD has come to the rescue. Bayridge is now looking at around $20,000, give or take, and they already have $50,000 in their reserves!

There is a bit of Wiki-info on EBMUD, aside from the link above—they look like a pretty large operation; this Bayridge stuff will be but a tiny drop in the night soil bucket for them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Bay_Municipal_Utility_District

Judges (Some, Only Some) On Los Osos' Lawsuits

I was at a party Friday night in SLO. I knew the hosts and had for 10+ years, but really no one else that night (except my husband, who would prefer not to be mentioned in a sewer blog—well, probably no one wants to be mentioned in here......). The double doors from the main room were open to the patio, where a chiminea was radiating heat and the koi pond waterfall was burbling. I was chatting with a brainy man about politics when a long time friend of his appeared. Brainy man asked him about how his work was going and he said what he was doing. His name was Roger and he was a retired judge. JUDGE ROGER PICQUET!! I nearly fainted. Me: you worked on Los Osos sewer cases!!! He politely and almost indistinguishably cringed a little. He quickly said, and lightly laughed, a lot of us did. He then turned and went inside, perhaps find another hors d'oeuvres or I thought more likely, to trade the chardonnay for a scotch. I felt awful. I had probably ruined his evening.

He did eventually come back out (fortunately with the same drink). I gave him my chair (as penance for dragging his mind where I am sure he never wanted it to go again). I said I was going back in for food, and I was (yes, it was my third plateful of food, I will be honest about that, I never skimp at a party, and the plates were not that large either—you know, the kind you can hold and walk around with).

That chair was graciously offered to me when I came back out, and we had a very pleasant 15-minute conversation! Not about the sewer, but about the bolluxed up Los Osos election and SLO life, normal stuff. Sigh. Poor Los Osos....... But I was thrilled to have met a living, and correct! decision maker for our beleaguered little burg.

When I got home I combed through my computer's hard drive for lawsuits and news articles on Los Osos sewer cases. I am only counting the ones from 2003 - 2006. There were employed on those ghastly tasks, the judges listed below:

Judge Douglas Hilton

Stopped the Recall Board stand down order - 10-7-2005.

Judge Martin Tangeman

Ruled the infamous Measure B illegal.

Judge Barry LaBarbera

The PZLDF case can go forward. (You don't want to know what a pizzle is, but the group called themselves the Prohibition Zone Legal Defense Fund until they found out what it was. They then became Citizens for Clean Water.)

Judge Charles Crandall

PZLDF vs. RWQCB.

Judge Robin Riblet

Bankruptcy.

Now, for Judge Picquet, I found:

2003

Judge Roger Picquet presided over and dismissed the case brought by Cal Cities Water Company against the Regional Water Quality Control Board for allowing a sewer in Los Osos that would return reclaimed water to the ground which would pollute the existing water. (Source: Bay News.)

And this:

March 24, 2005 (The board mentioned here is the pre recall CSD Board - CCLO was the feeder group for directors that were voted into the spots of recalled directors.)


Judge Roger Picquet heard demurrers to the portions of the second lawsuit regarding the wastewater project, CV041047, originally filed in December 2004 by CCLO, late yesterday. This lawsuit alleged that two additional Coastal Commission permits were required before the Los Osos Community Services District could build the wastewater project. Judge Picquet granted LOCSD’s motion to strike these allegations from the lawsuit without leave to amend. Thus, the portions of this lawsuit that could have affected construction of the Los Osos Wastewater Project have been dismissed and the superior court will not consider them further. The only remaining allegation in the lawsuit involves LOCSD’s storm drain facilities not involving the wastewater project. (Source: Tribune.)

And this:

May 24, 2005 (Recall Board)

Judge Dismisses CCLO Lawsuit Against LOCSD

Judge Roger Picquet today dismissed the lawsuit filed by Concerned Citizens of Los Osos in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court.  CCLO had alleged that the LOCSD Board was required to adopt ordinances on the Los Osos Wastewater Project by a 4/5 vote. The judge disagreed, and ruled that the 3/5 majority that voted in December was adequate for adopting ordinances for the Los Osos Wastewater Project. 


Judge Picquet granted the District’s motion to demurrer without leave to amend, and indicated that since his ruling was a matter of law, there was no way to cure the petition for subsequent consideration. (Source: Tribune.)

And this:

Judge Picquet presided over the 2005-2006 Grand Jury which explored the expenditure of public funds by the Recall LOCSD Board.

And this:

Early April, 2006 (Recall Board)

In April, Judge Roger Picquet blocked the services district from using the remaining $2 million to $3 million from a state low-interest loan until the agency resolves a $28 million payment dispute with two contractors hired to build a state-mandated sewer. (Source: Tribune.)

And this:

April 7, 2006 (Recall Board)

On April 5, 2006, the CSD sent a letter of objection to the Superior court. They claim that last Thursday ruling by Judge Picquet is incomplete, does not specifically state a dollar amount to be frozen, and requests that the audit be completed prior to a ruling. In short, the CSD is going to continue to spend SRF money regardless of the Court ruling freezing it. Sounds like Contempt of Court to me. (Source: April 7, 2006 - Calhoun's Cannon Blog, Ann Calhoun, posted by Anonymous.)

And that is where I will leave it for now. Judge Picquet, if you ever read this blog and get depressed or have nightmares, please seek treatment immediately (and forgive me for reminding you of probably the worst cases you were ever forced to hear).

Thanksgiving And The Newberry Wastewater Treatment Plant!

This is/was Thanksgiving Day 2018, and I am thankful for so many things! Camera card recovery software is one of them. Yes, it has been a while since my last post. I apologize! My anxiety over a trip next month without camera cards finally got me to bring this epic Michigan sewer episode to you faithful readers (I think I am up to five of you now, and I thank each of you for reading!). I have been wanting to write this since July. But I had accidentally erased all my photos of the Newberry Wastewater Plant.

I was in Michigan in July—family stuff—visit my 98-year old aunt and (younger) cousins, and Lou's family reunion. We started in Grand Rapids and drove to a cabin in the mountains outside Traverse City (which has only very slightly larger population [15,515] than Los Osos, but seems vast due to old buildings like an opera house and an art museum). I should call not those things outside the city mountains, they are not that tall. But they seemed like mountains due to the pine trees from my Big Bear-SoCal perspective. And it wasn't a cabin either, but a six bedroom house with a two bedroom guest house, too, and right on a lake. But who wants to stay in a house in the hills? Not quite vacationy enough.

The Traverse City area is the largest producer of tart cherries in the United States. Michael Moore founded the Traverse City Film Festival. An X-Files episode in season four was filmed there. And so, so, very relatable to us in SLO County, USA Today named it as one of the top ten cities for local wine. 

(So we were in a "house" on High Lake, but really, "high" compared to what? Or maybe it is one of those other highs, there was a lot of wine, which led to this long delay in posting.)

We also did some traveling to the Upper Peninsula. Munising. Big Foot and pasties, oh, delicious pasties! 

(You can click on the images to make them larger.)

Then we went some other places. We wound up going through Newberry, Michigan population 1,519 in 2010. We stopped at a realty office to get addresses, in a pipe dream sort of way, to look at properties for sale. We stopped at Rahilly's IGA market to get some sodas. And I found, sitting casually on an upper shelf - Trenary Toast!!! 

I had only found this mail order, and there it was IN PERSON, like it was a common box of Hostess Zingers or something! (The reason that this is sewer related, is that Paavo Ogren, our sewer guru, our Obi-Wan Kenobi, told me about this stuff.) I bought a bunch of bags. My favorite flavor is cardamom, but it was the one least liked by the fam. Oh well, more for me!

So we wound up traveling further east, and on the way out of town there was a sign:

I think I shrieked, and the photo is blurry, we were going pretty fast. Lou's son driving was kind enough to encourage me to go back and have a look! So I did while the rest of our party went over to the river to enjoy the natural beauty; of an actual flowing thing, and, it is very leafy and green in Michigan. I casually walked up to the sewer plant gate to view this other flowing thing. How could I photograph in this place? Well, I just walked in.

No one noticed me. So I am bringing you what this place looked like on July 20, 2018.

Yes, it smelled.....

When this truck pulled in, I figured I was cooked if I was caught, so below is the one parting shot - just to prove that I was actually there. I am waving. I hope I am not discovered and prosecuted because I posted this. (Can they extradite me back to Michigan?)

So here is where the wine came in. We were back at the cabin. Everyone was playing Pinochle or something (I am not a card player). I was downloading all of my camera cards onto my laptop and somehow, as one card must have had two folders of photos, and I had a glass or two of wine, I downloaded photos from only one of the folders. 

Next, I was going to write this Newberry sewer post, but alas, photos missing.........

Which card had the poop? Overwriting my sewer photos?—NO! I took no more photos. 

I figured I'd get some photo place to recover the images, but thought, that is going to be verrrry expensive; so many cards! Then I thought, I'll just buy new camera cards and figure how to retrieve the lost pix later. July became November.........(insert 1940s vintage image of calendar with pages flipping). Then I found THAT was going to be verrrry expensive if I could even find more than two cards (I usually use seven.)

$39.99 to download recovery software was the cheapest way to go (the free ones were not that great). I need those cards for the trip in December. Well, with recovery, I found some other old images on those cards too:

Ernest Hemingway's bathroom in his house in San Francisco de Paula, 

outside Havana, Cuba!

 A photo I took of Richard Otto's Baywood newspaper from the 1950s!

I also stumbled on this fun stuff in researching Newberry's WWTF - sewer geeks might find this interesting!

https://www.cmdgroup.com/building-types/water-treatment/michigan/projects/

https://www.cmdgroup.com/building-types/water-treatment/michigan/projects/1000604847/

Newberry Waste Water Treatment Plant was founded in 1965, and is located at 307 E Mcmillan Ave in Newberry. Additional information is available at or by contacting William Glime at (906) 293-5681. (I love that name Glime!)

Newberry Michigan - http://www.villageofnewberry.com/

But check out this last one - look familiar? But it needs a bit of updating!
https://www.cmdgroup.com/building-types/water-treatment/california/projects/1000213240/

Termination Of Orders

Here is an interesting email that just arrived:

lyris@swrcb18.waterboards.ca.gov <lyris@swrcb18.waterboards.ca.gov>

To:Lynette Tornatzky

Nov 2 at 11:40 AM

Dear Interested Parties,

NOTICE OF ORDER(s) TERMINATION

The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board will meet at its San Luis Obispo offices on November 8-9, 2018. Item #10 on the agenda is the termination or an Order or Orders that were issued to properties related to the Los Osos Septic Prohibition. You are being sent this notice because you have expressed interest in items relating to Los Osos wastewater issues.

The meeting agenda may be viewed on the internet here:

https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/board_info/agendas/2018/november/index.html

Regards,

Jon Rokke

Water Resources Control Engineer

Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board

895 Aerovista Place, Suite 101

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

I haven't even read all the stuff yet, but it is an amazing piece of history - DO follow the link above and the links for Item 10.

Sewer Ransomware!

I had no idea that this could happen, yet here it is:

https://www.mswmag.com/online_exclusives/2018/10/news-briefs-north-carolina-utility-working-with-feds-to-fight-ransomware-attack?utm_source=campaigner&utm_campaign=181025&utm_content=newsletter&cmp=1&utm_medium=email

https://www.securityinfowatch.com/news/12433630/nc-water-utility-suffers-ransomware-attack

The burning question of course, is are we vulnerable?

Mount Everest Fouled By Poop!

When you have no outhouses, when you have frozen ground, and when you have people on a mountain for long periods of time, you have a problem. Twelve tons of poop has befouled the once pristine Mount Everest and there are severe logistical problems to the removal of said poop. (I could have used other nouns I guess to describe this stuff, but some of those words are either worse than poop in their descriptiveness or they are too X-rated for a blog such as this.) The links below provide some fascinating insights to what happens when you can't flush and forget.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yset_chr_syc_oracle&p=poop+videos+mount+everest#id=1&vid=951540fbbf86bf72bee1b5b71c97bd76&action=click

https://www.tpomag.com/online_exclusives/2018/10/mount-everest-treating-waste-on-top-of-the-world?utm_source=campaigner&utm_campaign=181015&utm_content=newsletter&cmp=1&utm_medium=email

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/05/health/mount-everest-biogas-project/index.html

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yset_chr_syc_oracle&p=poop+videos+mount+everest#id=7&vid=b33b5089774fc1f044e23bc0b9f65822&action=view

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yset_chr_syc_oracle&p=poop+videos+mount+everest#id=14&vid=85ed3ea2863a2413f2ac107eba0f1e92&action=view

Bayridge's Stale Sludge

A sewer story close to home for a change! Many in town know that there were residential areas that had their own collection system that fed into group septic tanks and leach fields. Bayridge Estates was one of those places. Well, Bayridge hooked up to the sewer of course, but then there was the issue of emptying those giant, group septic tanks, 12 of them! 

Two of the twelve were emptied by our own late, great Al, of Al's Septic Service. (RIP Al, you are still missed!) The tanks were to be emptied one or two a year until all 12 had been vacuumed and sterilized just like our home tanks had to be. But after two, Al realized this process wasn't making economic sense for his company, so he bowed out.

The LOCSD staff had to find a replacement. Nine companies were contacted, and nine turned the LOCSD down. Seven more companies, which were out of the area, were contacted. Five, same story. The problem? The sludge had EXPIRED!! (Who knew this could happen?) This stuff is now considered HAZARDOUS WASTE!! (Well, some of us could figure out that when it was fresh, just saying'!)

Two out-of-the-area companies responded, one with a vague hourly bid, transporting the mess to Rancho Cucamonga, California; and the other, to an unspecified place for $110,000.

This all made for a fascinating presentation at our last Utilities Advisory Committee meeting held on Wednesday, October 17. Sad for all of us, Bayridge has only $33,206 in reserves now, and will have a whopping $41,693.40 at the close of the 2017-2018 budget.

To read the ghastly, but riveting, details, go to this link: https://www.losososcsd.org/files/6b6466775/Item+4+Bayridge+Estates+Septic+Tanks+Decommission+Process.pdf

You guys not in attendance missed a great event! But stay tuned. There is no ending to this sludge saga just yet!

Snapcrap!

Yes, you read that right, SnapC-R-A-P, not "chat," an app created and launched last week by Sean Miller. It alerts San Francisco's Public Works Department that a citizen using the app on their smartphone has found a pile of excrement on a sidewalk that needs to be cleaned up. The app (only currently available for iOS users) uses GPS to locate the pile (human or otherwise) and alert clean-up crews where to find it. Users get to keep track of their complaints, too!

"City officials have taken steps in recent years to combat the persistent problem of human waste on streets, including placing public toilets in 12 neighborhoods and, most recently, forming a team of five public works staffers — dubbed the poop patrol — who soon will begin combing neighborhoods and steam-cleaning areas where waste is found." http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-snapcrap-20181008-story.html

Another link with a video:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Snapcrap-App-Developer-Hopes-to-Help-Clean-Up-San-Francisco-Streets-495076441.html

Los Osos has a poop problem too, some human. But the bulk of poop left around is supplied by dogs with lazy owners who fail to pick up after them. I don't think an app would help our situation any, but our town would be a lot nicer if we could fix the open air waste problem, especially since we finally have a sewer to fix the below ground poop and pee problem caused by septic tank density.

I do know that some LO citizens DO pick up the doo-doo left by shameless dog owners, and a hearty THANK-YOU goes out to each one of you.

Birthing Our WWTF

I was noodling around for who knows what and found the website (linked below) from one of HDR's sub-consultants who had worked on our sewer plant. I though the slideshow of gorgeous photos that they had at the top of their Los Osos sewer page was outstanding and deserved some recognition here - so have a look at some of the very beginnings of our facility from the Mimiaga Engineering Group and who knew that there is a checkerboard at the bottom of the secondary clarifiers!

http://www.mimiagaengineeringgroup.com/portfolio-type/county-of-san-luis-obispolos-osos-water-recycling-facility/

Toilet Audios

Yes, there is such a thing as a collection of toilet flushes - have a listen - actually, there are many minutes of listening. One wonders if these sounds have found their way into some other application - like a sewer video perhaps?  :-D 💩

https://www.soundsnap.com/tags/toilet_flush

Scattered off this link are various sewer sounds mixed in with sewing machines and then video game sounds (go figure....):
https://www.soundsnap.com/search/audio/sewer/score?page=1

Poop-Bots

I got a little behind (ha-ha!) on reading the New York Times (we get an actual paper delivery three days a week, and pixel version daily on Kindle - where I am also late to read stuff). I had been in LA and the stack of paper had piled up on the dining table threatening dinner plates. Realizing another weekend boatload starts up again tomorrow, I was racing through the old news tonight. But I did an abrupt stop on the section "WeekendArts1," where the word  "poop-bots" froze my scanning eyes. The article was called "Dream a Little Dream. I Dare You." Page one, just below the fold, was an article on a Netflix TV show, "Maniac." The sentence reads, "Tiny wheeled 'poop bots' trudge the sidewalks cleaning up dog waste."* Well, this sewer blogger wasn't going to let a blog topic like that go to waste (ha-ha!), so here is what I found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rsYF9mIgDU

https://discordbots.org/bot/381409327673638923

https://poop-bot.github.io/

https://boingboing.net/2017/08/02/scatological-robots.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfhyB6VCMDQ


* New York Times, Friday, September 21, 2018

Fecal-Philiac Or Fecal-Phobic

Stinson Beach! Always a pleasure to share one of the well-written posts over here from the California Coastal Dweller!!

http://californiacoastdweller.com/2013/12/07/septic-tank-arguments-could-stinson-beach-be-the-fecal-philiac-pole-opposite-malibus-fecal-phobic-choice-of-sanitation/

I wrote those words above 2014 and never posted the blog blurb! So I thought it was high time to revisit Stinson Beach and see if they had solved their septic tank problem - just as we had! 

Well, they did, but not quite with the same solution. I found an article off the Orenco website on Stinson Beach! (Remember our old friends at Orenco—at every...single...meeting they could possibly attend???) Orenco may have struck out in Los Osos rather badly, but they hit the gold mine in Stinson Beach!

https://www.orenco.com/Portals/0/Documents/Article%20PDFs/Aug.pdf?ver=2018-08-02-145028-373

Lipstick On A WWTF With A Camera

Photographer Paul Cockrell has done the impossible, making wastewater treatment plants into works of art with his camera. Have a look:

https://www.tpomag.com/online_exclusives/2016/11/beautifying_wastewater_treatment_plants_one_photo_at_a_time?ref=related_sidebar

An interesting side note, Mr. Cockrell used to work as a water/wastewater design engineer for HDR. Guess who managed the construction on our WWTF? HDR!

https://www.hdrinc.com/sites/default/files/2017-05/hdr-extreme-sewer-makeover.pdf

I have to give credit to our own San Luis Obispo County photographers for their beautiful shots of our rather picturesque WWTF that we have seen in their drone shots and drone time-lapse videos. (Our setting for a sewer beats most too of course.)

5-G In London Sewers!

Sewer pipes do double duty.....yes, there is a pun in there - but sewer parts and products to go therein so easily lend themselves to that sort of thing, don't they?

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/londons-sewers-set-for-5g-makeover/10035631.article?blocktitle=News-Feed&contentID=13612

http://www.rebresearch.com/blog/sewer-jokes-and-song/

💩

Red Tide, Blue Green Algae

"Thirty percent of the population uses septic systems."

New York Times, September 30, 2018

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/29/opinion/sunday/red-tide-florida-tourism.html

Ugh. If you want to see a close up of dead fish on a Florida beach, read the article linked above. Be glad there is no smell component to an online article.

Did you know that "More fertilizer is consumed in Florida than any other state but California, Illinois and Texas." Fertilizer, both commercial and people-made, is a big problem as the blue-green algae thrives on it. The blue-green algae kills the fish, just like the red tide. Hence the stench! Check the tides before you book your vacation.

Sewer's Farm Road

http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc/4000000030541157

Yeah, I know.....how do they mean "sewer?" One who sews with needle and thread, or are they honoring a construction which one flushes into, which happens to be on a farm road - a sewer plant shoved out of town maybe (sound familiar Los Osians)? The town apparently named Abinger Bottom 😐........and it is in the Mole Valley, you know, underground tunnels. Well, this is yet another British Mystery! Perhaps a future someone in the know will leave a clarifying comment?

The Woeful World Of Wipes

Yes, it's been a while. I have been very engaged in writing on the local Los Osos Nextdoor which includes parts of Morro Bay. They are going through a sewer war, and I have been providing some Los Osos sewer background of what they don't want to do, namely, vote NO and change locations.

Happily, they did pass their 218 vote Tuesday evening to move on ahead with their WRF, Water Recycling Facility. Note the wording difference; ours was/is called the Los Osos Waste Water Project, LOWWP. We are recycling water too, but we sound a little more old school. Well, since our plant started back in the cave man days, I guess it would, but these days recycled water is a lot more hip of a term than "waste water." It sure sounds better anyway. The idea of wasting water is firmly brain ingrained as a no-no in Los Osos. But I digress.

I subscribe to a newsletter from the wastewater industry, TPO, for Treatment Plant Operator. Since I have written on wipes in the past, I thought I would update you all (who are not in the industry) on how the problem has been combatted in this modern age. So have a look and get educated. This grinder thinger doodle looks to be able to take care of even the false teeth that occasionally wind up at wastewater treatment plants—I mean water reclamation plants!
https://www.tpomag.com/online_exclusives/2018/09/wipes-arent-going-away_sc_003ey?utm_source=campaigner&utm_campaign=180912&utm_content=newsletter&cmp=1&utm_medium=email

Jolly Video Of The LOWWP Being Built!

I was sticking my nose one again into the Nextdoor posts on the Morro Bay Sewer..... well, the word "debacle" sure does not fit the low key sewer battle they are having - maybe I can use the work "skirmish?" This is nothing like what possessed and emanated from the sewer followers over here. Fortunately.

But I digress. I was researching something to include in a post and I ran across a video that I had never seen before! It is just delightful, toe-tappingly so! It is early on in the sewer building process, so not much is built, but it is really worth a viewing! I have no idea who the creator of the video, the Mimiaga Engineering Group * is, so now I have to look them up.

Click this link, not the image:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyq3GNtLU1s

Note: Farmland.

* Oh! There we are, right on their Home Page! They were a sub-consultant to HDR, one of our main contractors. LOVE the video guys!!

Cayucos Sanitary Plant

Does anyone (besides me) see anything unintentionally hilarious in this screen capture?

Sewer Salmon!

OK. it is not quite sewer salmon, but the alliteration made such a good headline! What it really is, is salmon being raised in the treated wastewater from the Bangor, Maine WWTF. The salmon are the draw to get people to visit, and in the process, the plant gets to show off what a glorious transformation it can do to poopy water! Read the story here:

https://www.tpomag.com/online_exclusives/2018/07/effluent-raised-salmon-gets-community-involved-in-wastewater-treatment?utm_source=StreamSend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter&utm_campaign=180725

BTW, one can find great stuff in TPO magazine!

Sewer Socialism

OK, this is a bit off topic, but it did involve sewers! 

Quote, "Milwaukee Socialists sought to reform the legacy of the Industrial Revolution on the local level by cleaning up neighborhoods and factories with new sanitation systems....."

(Learn about something that you never heard of! It may come in handy if you get on "Jeopardy.")

https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-043/?action=more_essay

Alligator Swimming In Treatment Plant Pond

Our Los Osos sewer news is slower than frozen pancake batter these days, but fortunately other treatment plants have more exciting goings on! The Mineral Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant in Clearfield County Pennsylvania has a guest swimmer! Have a look at this video (and never mind the prologue ad - mine was for a law firm specializing in debt cases, a guy had his car towed, was going to have a problem getting to work, and got zero sympathy from the tow truck driver).

https://wjactv.com/news/local/gator-hunt-animal-seen-swimming-in-sewage-treatment-plant

Los Osos Park Septic Tank

Fun Fact: Well, it is gone now, likely filled in with slurry, but the Los Osos Community Park, when built, was outfitted with restrooms that flushed into an 800 gallon septic tank! I was researching something else at County offices today and ran into that tidbit. You never know where something sewery will pop up when researching any aspect of Los Osos!

San Francisco's Poop Problem

You can't say I never bring you horrible stories!

https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/state/california/article214320174.html

Who collected this stuff is what I want to know, and I suppose WHY, too.

Recycled Toilet Paper!

Yeah - really!! My dear friend just found this group on Facebook - but as you all might not be there, I am giving you a link to their website:

https://us.whogivesacrap.org

You must see this video!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S4YGaz-7EE&version=3&hl=en_US%3Bautoplay%3D1

Stay and watch the second video, it gives a good explanation of what this is about - it's a TED talk.

Thanks XXXX for the tip!!  (And I won't give your name out, as you might not want to be identified on a sewer blog!)

Crocheted Toilet Paper

I was noodling around on Tumblr tonight and found this - have a look:

https://picsthatmakeyougohmm.tumblr.com/post/174918758345/hmmm

This just is not practical.

Movie - "Toilet: A Love Story"

This is a real movie:

"Directed by Shree Narayan Singh, the film was retitled Toilet Hero (Cesuo Yingxiong) for the China market. The movie tells the story of an Indian man who manages to win back the heart of his newlywed wife by building an in-house toilet for her, a break from the local custom of doing one's business out in the open air. The film was inspired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Clean India Movement, a campaign to improve sanitary conditions in the country."

Above is a quote from the Hollywood Reporter, see the full article here:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-box-office-indian-comedy-toilet-a-love-story-tops-quiet-weekend-1118937

I often wonder if our "Magic Sand" sewer story isn't movie worthy too. I just wouldn't call it a love story; it falls more into the tragedy category, with many sad vignettes that played out over the many years of looming crisis. Bring a full roll of toilet paper (as opposed to a box of Kleenex) to the premier if it ever comes to a cineplex near you.

Trump Solves Sewage Problem

No, I'm not talking about PRESIDENT Trump, but developer Trump, who managed to hide 24,000,000 gallons of sewage. Really!  There are SO MANY things I could say here, but I'll just give you a link to the article!

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-donald-trump-tried-to-cash-in-by-dumping-sewage-into-the-hudson-river

Beer Has Pee Too!

I did not realize how much wastewater is generated by a gallon of beer - 6 to 8 gallons of plain water go to make 1 bubbly golden gallon - and more than half of that is WASTEWATER! Read all about it here (yikes):
https://www.tpomag.com/online_exclusives/2018/04/muffin_monster_takes_over_when_macerators_cant_cut_it_sc_001s5?ref=related_body

Los Osos Sewer Lateral Etc. Update!

The Basin Management Committee which manages the Los Osos water basin by court order meets today, May 16. There was sewer related info in the Executive Director's Report which will be of interest to sewer readers here!

Here is a quote from that report:

Los Osos Wastewater Project Flow and Connection Update

•   Of the 177 unconnected properties, 72 are waiting for the County/USDA/LOCSD low- income grant program to pay for their connection leaving 105 properties that may require enforcement. Of the 105 properties, 32 are in the process of connecting (ie: obtained a building permit), and 13 have responded to the County’s survey giving reasons why they are not connected yet. Subtracting those categories leaves 60 properties (1.3% of 4583 total parcels) that are the focus of the Code enforcement process.
  
  
•   The County is in the process of securing a Board date & preparing a staff report to amend the County Code. The Board date is scheduled for August 7, 2018.
  
•   
  Influent flows into the treatment facility are peaking at 0.50 mgd. No recycled water deliveries have been made to irrigation users yet. Effluent is being disposed at both Broderson and Bayridge leachfields. As of 3/31/2018, effluent disposal totaled 133.7 AF to Broderson and 6.5 AF to Bayridge leachfields. The development of the expected groundwater mount downgradient of Broderson continues as shown in the attached recent hydrograph of monitoring well FW-6. Recycled water agreements are being finalized with LOCSD and GSWC for the delivery of recycled water to the schools and urban areas, and the schools will be retrofitted to receive recycled water during the 2018 summer break.
  

Option to Bring Morro Bay Wastewater to Los Osos WWRF
Similar to staff’s last update, it was determined that both summer and winter peak day flows at the City of Morro Bay are expected to exceed the available capacity in the Los Osos Wastewater Reclamation Facility, and therefore an expansion would be required to accommodate the higher flows. A number of peak day flows of over 3 mgd have been observed at the existing Morro Bay facility. Additional information on the Morro Bay project can be found here: http://morrobaywrf.com/. 

View the entire report here: https://www.slocountywater.org/site/Water%20Resources/LosOsos/pdf/2018-05-16%20Los%20Osos%20BMC%20Meeting%20Agenda%20Packet.pdf