This was just too good, I had to share!
Reference Documents
Monday, December 21, 2020
Friday, December 18, 2020
AB 885 Finally Got Teeth!
Oh so many sewer years rolled by with Assembly Bill 885 languishing in the background. You can read all about it here:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=199920000AB885
The history can be accessed here:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billHistoryClient.xhtml?bill_id=199920000AB885
Now, this supposedly was approved in 2012 according to this news article—with some contentious bits, and that stalling I do recall:
https://www.independent.com/2012/06/22/septic-system-regulations-california-adopted/
But something must have happened before its voyage to San Luis Obispo County. Maybe our Local Agency Management Program (LAMP) just got created? I found a fact sheet for 2017 off the website, but where has this been hiding? There are some holes in this story for a sewer follower like me to have just heard about this on Wednesday. The County website on the topic is this:
https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Planning-Building/Permitting/Construction-Permits/Local-Agency-Management-Program.aspx
I found this on that website, but why did LOCAC not hear about this? Outreached to whom?
LAMP Outreach Meetings
The County hosted two public outreach meetings in December 2017 to present the Proposed Final version of the LAMP.
Monday, December 18th 5:00PM- 6:30PM
San Luis Obispo County New Government Center, 1055 Monterey Street, San Luis Obispo (Room 161)"
You can check out the cool PowerPoint that the County presented at the Basin Management Committee meeting on Wednesday, by Michael Byrd of County Planning & Building. Bayview Heights and the Martin Tract are NOT affected by this, they still belong to the RWQCB - our Central Coast Water Board.
The State has transferred the responsibility of new septic tank approval, and replacement tank approval to the County apparently in 2012. But even LOCAC, the Los Osos Community Advisory Council, has not run into this one, and we have seen Accessory Dwelling Units, mentioned in the regulations - although apparently the one or two we have seen (I forget the number now) and approved, and passed through the Planning Department, have wound up stalled at the Coastal Commission, but they were hooked up to the sewer. Could it be our adjudicated basin's water issue perhaps? State law seems to think an impaired water basin should not be an issue for an ADU. Oh well. Happy PowerPointing, there is a LOT of stuff packed in here:
https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Forms-Documents/Committees-Programs/Los-Osos-Basin-Management-Committee-(BMC)/Agendas/2020-Agendas/2020-12-16-LOBMC-Presentation-on-the-Local-Agency.pdf
Saturday, December 12, 2020
BMC Lists Sewer Hook-Up Stats!
The Basin Management Committee will meet on Zoom, Wednesday, December 16 at 1:30 p.m.. Their board packet was released Friday and contained this quote about sewer hook-ups in Los Osos!
Enforcement: A list of properties that were not connected were transferred to County Code Enforcement and Notice of Violations were issued last year in Feb. 2019. That list was about 70 properties. As of 10/1/2020, the sewer service area had a 99.2% connection status with a total of 44 properties not yet connected. Of those, one is not required to connect because there is no structure (demolished), 24 have expired building permits, and the rest have an open Code Enforcement case. Expired permits did not receive a Code Enforcement case because those properties have their own noticing process through the Building Department which, if not corrected, could result in a Notice of Violation. The County has assigned new staff in code enforcement to Los Osos. They will be reviewing the status of cases that were issued earlier last year.
So, I'm lousy at math, but 44 minus one leaves 43 outstanding non-hook-ups. And of that, 19 will be visited by Code Enforcement. That brings questions to my mind:
• Expired permits for what? Are people living in the expired permit houses? A permit to hook up is what has expired?
• What are the penalties to the 19 who, I guess, have done nothing to hook up?
Also in that informative document - this!
It is very good to get some updated sewer news. It has been way-y-y-y too quiet on the sewer front these days! It is sort of like we are flushing and forgetting....but I guess I knew that was going to happen.
Source: https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Forms-Documents/Committees-Programs/Los-Osos-Basin-Management-Committee-(BMC)/Agendas/2020-Agendas/2020-12-16-LOBMC-Agenda-Packet.pdfSaturday, November 07, 2020
On A Leak Campaign, Over/Under Debate Swills!
A campaign to raise awareness over leaking toilets and the waste they cause, is highlighted in a cheeky debate over the benefits/worth of over/under hanging of a roll of toilet paper. Yes, this is real and cats are mentioned!
Thanks to the The Sacramento Regional Water Authority (RWA) and Maven's Notebook for bringing this to our attention!
Saturday, October 24, 2020
PowerPoint Presentation From The BMC Meeting!
Not to be missed! We got an excellent presentation by John Austin on our wastewater treatment facility at the October 21 Basin Management Committee Meeting. Here is a link:
On a practical note, we have a 99.2% rate of connections, which means practically everyone required to has hooked up, just 44 properties left to go!
You can hear the Zoom meeting and Mr. Austin giving his report off of this link:
Astoundingly, our nitrates are very much below the 7mg/l limit! Listen to the details on the problem with the Bayridge delivery pipe and the draining of one of the LOWWTP ponds.
Happy learning!
Saturday, October 17, 2020
October BMC Has WWTF Presentation!!!!
Don't miss the BMC meeting Wednesday, October 21 as a presentation of our water recycling facility will be given!!! It will be on Zoom, starting at 1:30 p.m..
"6. SPECIAL PRESENTATION
a. Los Osos Water Recycling Facility Presentation Recommendation: Receive an update presentation from San Luis Obispo County Flood Control & Water Conservation District Staff on the Los Osos Water Recycling Facility and the Recycled Water Program."
Here is a link to the agenda packet which has the Zoom link!
Be there, or be hopelessly square and uninformed!!
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Water Board Approves New Nitrate Removal System!
Our sewer battle royal was all about the nitrates in the groundwater. There was no way we could just clean it up at the source said the Water Board, without building an actual sewer plant first. Well, we have done that, and the plant has been operating now for four years. However, those of you who follow the LOCSD well problems, here's one that has been going on for a while:
. 10th Street Well Issues The 10th Street well has been out of service since June 15th. Since then staff, along with CleathHarris and Filipponi and Thompson Drilling, have been working on repairs to the well to get it back into service. Because of the age of the well, initially drilled in 1962, it was determined that the perforations that allow water to flow into the well and be pumped to the surface were corroded and clogged. When attempting to clean the lower part of the casing, the pipe had deteriorated so much it created a hole which allowed sand and debris to enter into approximately the bottom 80 feet of the well. An effort was made to remove the debris which recovered about 20 feet of the bottom. The well will be put back into service, after the partial rehabilitation work is completed, during the week of September 14th. Staff is currently reviewing options to do a full rehabilitation of the well once the higher water demand season has passed.
We all know the 3rd Street well has been offline for years now.
We might be needing help, not that this solution could come soon enough, but it might be food for thought for the future (see page 10 of 273 here - Basin Management Report
Now, check this out:
Monday, September 21, 2020
Experiment With A Frozen Poop Knife!
This one wins the lg Nobel Prize! In any case, I could not pass up something as....unusual.....as this for my sewer blog, even though it is a bit sideways from the stated topic. (No sewer was involved in this experiment.)
The explanation below!
If you somehow got through all of this, you might also want to read this:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/288746v1
But wait—there's more!
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vdx4ad/brown-death-a-history-of-poop-as-a-weapon-111;
(Okay, I'll quit now, promise.)
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Paisley Cave Coprolites!
Ancient fecal remains are not too likely around here in all this sand, but a great story popped up on the latest issue of SLOCAS's "The Artifact" and it was just too good not to share. They posted the full journal article off this link: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/29/eaba6404.full
Definition, in case you forgot, or perhaps needed to forget:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolite
You may not want to feast your eyes on a bounty of these images after you have eaten, but it is worth a look other times:
I have a couple in my fossil collection, but the hour is late and I am too lazy to photograph and post them.
Should you need to buy some for YOUR collection, or books about them, I found these on Amazon:
I just checked the stats - people (read bots) are now reading this c-r-a-p stuff in Malta now! I am thrilled that Turkmenistan has given up it's vaunted status!
Wednesday, September 09, 2020
Perhaps Poop Less Polluting Than....
https://snowbrains.com/microfibers-from-denim-blue-jeans-have-been-discovered-in-the-arctic/
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Sewer Stats!
Then I got the link to the next Basin Management Committee meeting's packet and there were some gems in there which I will show here. It is a l--o--n--g document and much does not directly apply here.
I'll give you screen shots as the information does not copy well out of the pdf.
Sunday, July 26, 2020
New Potty Strategies In The Era Of COVID-19
I had a lot to do today so only got through part of the paper. Tonight I came across wonderful and practical advice for car travel these days if you must go further than your bladder radius allows!
Here we are, with all this time to do something safe - drive around, staying in your car to get OUT OF THE HOUSE FOR A WHILE, and then the liquids you imbibed earlier are pushing forcefully to get out......somewhere. Men, you can stop reading here. This doesn't seem to be a problem you need to deal with as I am not really talking about Number Two. The article linked below does cover that however.
https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-07-25/public-restrooms-are-disappearing-here-are-survival-strategies
You can probably access this if you haven't used up all your free articles from the LA Times!
Who knew there was such a thing as "pee funnels" for women...Tinkle Belle, Easy Peezy, GoGirl, Shewee—brilliant! So if you can find that quiet corner out in the brush, well, you are saved from revisiting your four year old self's embarrassing boo-boo! Just be careful and check for ticks.
I am scraping the bottom of the toilet (in this case) for sewer articles, especially ones in Los Osos.......
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Monarch Grove Sewer Rate Increase Pending!
The LOCAC meeting was very enlightening on the evening of July 23! The actual happening here was nothing requiring a 218 vote - that is long over. It was the County enrolling the Monarch Grove sewer taxes onto the County's tax rolls, that's it! Phew for the residents of Monarch Grove!
You'd think I would have heard of this sooner, but the Estero Bay News came to my rescue with the latest sewer news!
Read all about it here - http://esterobaynews.com/county-to-hike-sewer-rates-for-monarch-grove/
Neil Farrell has written this excellent article on this topic! (I will be forever indebted to him for helping me out with a ton of information for my book on Los Osos/Baywood Park.)
So mark you calendar for August 11 for what might be a fascinating reading of the 83 votes— Yes or No— to be revealed at the Board of Supes - as to whether or not Monarch Grove will up their sewer rates, just like we did in the Prohibition Zone! The pertinent documents are not on the County website, but when posted I will notify all of you dear readers (three of you are probably not bots anyway, at least, I hope, but who knows.......)!
Thursday, July 16, 2020
London Fatbergs!
https://www.mswmag.com/online_exclusives/2020/07/london-sewer-cleaning-program-removes-700-tons-of-fatbergs-debris?utm_source=campaigner&utm_campaign=MSW200714&utm_content=newsletter&cmp=1&utm_medium=email
Will we ever get this bad?
Then there was this:
https://www.mswmag.com/online_exclusives/2018/02/portion-of-massive-london-fatberg-becomes-museum-exhibit?ref=related_body
YIKES. (And don't miss the candy at the end!)
I swiped the image below off the internet......as I used to say in Latin back in middle school (once called Jr. High): barfus upus!
Friday, July 03, 2020
Outhouses!
So, running out of things about our sewer as it is running along just fine, I'll blog about history, and OUTHOUSES! A wonderful invention that we still use today. Remember the last time you were in one? Or, like many of us, did you need to repress that memory? (The fancy ones at budding wineries and outdoor movie sets are pretty nice though....)
History of the Outhouse - did you know: "...fossilized excrement can provide clues about the diet and health of past users."
https://toiletology.com/resources/history/history-of-the-outhouse/
MarBorg - serves four counties of the Central Coast!
https://www.marborg.com/
Port-a-Potty Rental Guide
https://www.portapotty.net/rental/
https://www.pinterest.com/mooomooo50/outhouses/
Now, for an abridged portable port-a-potty!
https://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/676?qryrmv=1&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=4-10&keyword=porta%20toilet
THE OUTHOUSE POEM
Author Unknown
The service station trade was slow
The owner sat around,
With sharpened knife and cedar stick
Piled shavings on the ground.
No modern facilities had they,
The log across the rill
Led to a shack, marked His and Hers
That sat against the hill.
“Where is the ladies restroom, sir?”
The owner leaning back,
Said not a word but whittled on,
And nodded toward the shack.
With quickened step she entered there
But only stayed a minute,
Until she screamed, just like a snake
Or spider might be in it.
With startled look and beet red face
She bounded through the door,
And headed quickly for the car
Just like three gals before.
She missed the foot log – jumped the stream
The owner gave a shout,
As her silk stockings, down at her knees
Caught on a sassafras sprout.
She tripped and fell – got up, and then
In obvious disgust,
Ran to the car, stepped on the gas,
And faded in the dust.
Of course we all desired to know
What made the gals all do
The things they did, and then we found
The whittling owner knew.
A speaking system he’d devised
To make the thing complete,
He tied a speaker on the wall
Beneath the toilet seat.
He’d wait until the gals got set
And then the devilish tike,
Would stop his whittling long enough,
To speak into the mike.
And as she sat, a voice below
Struck terror, fright and fear,
“Will you please use the other hole,
We’re painting under here!”
This is classic Americana!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, for a favorite shot ripped off the Internet a decade or more ago:
Sunday, June 21, 2020
The History Of Sanitary Sewers And Poems!
http://www.sewerhistory.org/
Probably none of you readers (and certainly none of you bots - Turkmenistan is tops on the bots list again) are old enough to know what the reference is in the video below, but it might be the first and only time a sewer worker was featured on a TV show that isn't a documentary. Someone in Hollywood should fix that and bring us something new to view on our phones!
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042114/
Go to 17:20 on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXNu2id935U
Go to 11:41 on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkcpHcOaCZY
http://www.sewerhistory.org/miscellaneous/song-of-the-sewer-from-the-honeymooners/
Now, another thing I found on the sewer history site was the poem below! But before we get to that, compare the name of the poem's author with the names on the link below!!
https://www.filanc.com/filanc-black-veatch-wins-morro-bay
And, even closer to home in 1993 - click the image to enlarge.
Below is a lovely sewer poem with a sense of humor. There just MUST be a connection to Black & Veatch! (Any genealogists out there?)
An Ode to Sludge, by F. M. Veatch (1925)
The use of waste of fellow man
Dates back to Father Moses;
The “thunder mug” of far Japan
is emptied on the roses.
In France, Vic Hugo wrote with flame
Of plant food from the doolies;
In China, frugal land of fame,
It’s spread on farms by coolies.These noxious ways of aiding plants
Irk moderns in their rambles
O’er lawns oft used by wives and aunts
For parties, teas and gambols.That food is there, we know right well
But we wish satisfaction
Of benefit without the smell
Of rot and putrefaction.Digested sludge from modern plants
If used with circumspection
Givers answers to our prayers and chants
For plant food or perfection.
Its granules all are living dens
Of potent nitrobacters, …Its granules all are living dens
Of potent nitrobacters
With freedom from the pathogens,
Those well-known evil actors.Its humus base gives safe abode
For hormones without number;
One treats an acorn in this mode
And Presto! it is lumber.It gives out peas full size and weight,
Right gladly we collect ’em,
And fertilize our real estate
With enzymes from the rectum.
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Dangerous Toilet Plumes!
"The potential for airborne transmission of infectious disease via sewage has been the subject of research for more than a century, and the toilet plume’s role has been scrutinized since the 1950s." Washington Post, June 16, 2020Who knew? Anyway, read the article linked below and keep that lid down! That plume you get from flushing might contain a nastier passenger that begins with a "V" than the expected vapors that might usually spew into the air!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/16/coronavirus-toilet-flushing/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJjb29raWVuYW1lIjoid3BfY3J0aWQiLCJpc3MiOiJDYXJ0YSIsImNvb2tpZXZhbHVlIjoiNTk3ODkyYzU5YmJjMGY2ODI2Yzk5OTYyIiwidGFnIjoiNWVlOTI0YjlmZTFmZjY1NGMyZmNkM2JjIiwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2FzaGluZ3RvbnBvc3QuY29tL2hlYWx0aC8yMDIwLzA2LzE2L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLXRvaWxldC1mbHVzaGluZy8_dXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXdwX3RvX3lvdXJfaGVhbHRoJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyJndwaXNyYz1ubF90eWgmd3Btaz0xIn0.KRtKe8dJjnmGdzCKTXV1njcR0FfO0fmX5HT_miEnYRQ&utm_campaign=wp_to_your_health&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_tyh&wpmk=1
If there are kids in the family, sit them down to watch this!
Monday, June 15, 2020
Portable Sewage Disposal Dos and Dont's!
In searching for interesting sewage tales, as our little plant is humming along quietly in the background with no stories to tell, I found a very useful video for this summer of RV travel for what NOT to do with the blackwater dumping out of your RV. I know this video is five years old, but I think this lesson will still be very useful.
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Molasses In Wastewater!
You will have to answer some question like "Have you heard of XYZ dog food?" to access the article, but it was worth it!
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Deluxe Sewer Tour, Part 2
The handy signs ID some of this stuff.
Sunday, June 07, 2020
Tardigrade Enthusiasts' Video!
Friday, June 05, 2020
A Sewer Diet Aid!
It worked!
Now for wayyyyy more fun, read the comments under the video on the YouTube site!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=116&v=UK9YofCkxcc&feature=emb_logo
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Tardigrades In Turkmenistan Too!
But that is not my topic. Tardigrades (AKA water bears, moss piglets) are! And yes, they are in Turkmenistan. And right out on Los Osos Valley Road at our wastewater treatment plant...and in my back yard, and yours too most likely! What fun! They live in water, salt or fresh! They live on moss! They live on sand! There are 1100 species!
On the topic of tardigrades in wastewater, wastewater being the product that anchored the reason for this blog, here is a quote from a scientific paper on tardigrades, just so readers and bots get that there is some seriousness involved with this post.
- "The tardigrades occurred in highest abundance in the tanks containing wastewater with a higher nutrient load. Thulinius ruffoi was mainly present in well-oxygenated activated sludge and its abundance was subject to seasonal fluctuations; however, its preference for more polluted tanks seems to be consistent across the year."
Okay, what are the physical characteristics of tardigrades? (You can see them with a low-power microscope!)
"Tardigrades belong to an elite category of animals known as extremophiles, or critters that can survive environments that most others can't. For instance, tardigrades can go up to 30 years without food or water. They can also live at temperatures as cold as absolute zero or above boiling,* at pressures six times that of the ocean’s deepest trenches, and in the vacuum of space."https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/t/tardigrades-water-bears/
and a few other things as well......(see the chart above).
Okay, why the name?
"The name “Tardigrade” was given to this animal in 1776 and it actually derives from the Italian for Slow Stepper, or Tardigrada."https://www.thefactsite.com/tardigrade-facts/
Now watch a tardigrade in action!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soKvFtJRnO8
Read about them off of these links below. And once you are fascinated, if not quite fallen in actual love with these specks, guess what—there is merchandise!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a30538168/tardigrade-water-bear-weakness/
You can drink out of a mug with a tardigrade image and there are an astounding number of vendors for such an.....esoteric......item!
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/tardigrade+mugs
https://www.zazzle.com/tardigrade+mugs
You can sew a cloth tardigrade yourself:
https://www.budsies.com/blog/guest-blog/tardigrade-stuffed-animal/
Tardigrade earrings in cheesy plastic!
Tardigrade necklace in sterling silver!
Tardigrade Hoodie!
Tardigrade slippers!
Tardigrade stuffed animals!
* Disputed for a certain length of time for one species of tardigrades anyway:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a30538168/tardigrade-water-bear-weakness/