The Measure B Blot on CSD Agenda

Measure B! Remember that moldy corpse from the past, say 2005-ish? Well, if you don't, just read about it off this link. I find it too painful to go over one more time! It would be fair to say it cost the district thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars in legal feels and, finally, it was declared invalid. Measure B stopped the $154 million sewer to bring us, when the County accepted the sewer project from the State, an $183 million sewer. "We Delay, We Pay" was the slogan back then and boy, has that ever been true. Look at the sewer cost history if you can stand to.*

Anyway, on the September 4, 2014 Closed Session portion of the Los Osos CSD agenda, Measure B once again rises from the dead invoked by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The agenda item reads:

2. A.
RWQCB v. LOCSD in SLO Superior Court (CV051074) - Injunctive Relief Measure B

Well, we all know that what goes on in Closed Session, remains in Closed Session and we very seldom know what goes on in there. I tried to find that case on the SLO County Superior website, but no luck. Really, the definitions online for "injunctive relief" don't quite make sense here.

So we are left with speculation as to why this is here. Maybe this is simple housecleaning to discuss closing out the books on this? That is my hoped for wish.



*This is a copy & paste from a Word document that I got from Sorrel Marks at the Regional Water Quality Control Board:

Los Osos Wastewater Project – Timeline and Project Costs Increases

Date     Project Cost     Basis of Delays & Cost Estimates

1984    $34.6 million   Phase II Facilities Planning Study by Brown & Caldwell

1987    $48.5 million   Final Los Osos Wastewater Project EIR by The Morro Group

1991                                                    CAWS v. SLO County & RWQCB (Superior Court)*

1992                                                    CAWS v. SLO County (Superior Court)*

1995    $62.3 million   Los Osos Wastewater Study Task G Report on Detailed Evaluation of

Alternatives by Metcalf & Eddy

1997                            Supplemental EIR addressing treatment plant locations

1997                                                    TAPPS Appeal Coastal Development Permit to Coastal Commission

1997                                                    Coastal Commission requires additional Alternatives Evaluation

1997                                                    CAWS v. SLO County (Superior Court)*

1999                                                    CSD formed, begins new project development

2001    $84.6 million   Final Project Report by Montgomery Watson

2001                                                    Coleman v. Los Osos CSD (Superior Court)*

2001                                                    Keller v. Los Osos CSD (Federal Court)*

2001                                                    Keller v. Los Osos CSD (Federal Appeals Court)*

2002                                                    Keller v. Los Osos CSD (request for en banc review)*.

2002                                                    Grand Jury Investigation Report*

2002                                                    CASE v. California Coastal Commission (Superior Court)*

2003    $93 million                  50% Design cost estimate       

2004                                                    Cal Cities v. RWQCB & Los Osos CSD (Superior Court)*

2004                                                    CCLO/CASE Appeal Development Permit to Board of Supervisors

2004                                                    CCLO/CASE/Bhuta Appeal Development Permit to Coastal Commission

2004    $110 million    Redesign cost estimate

*All litigation has been ruled in favor of the wastewater project

CCLO = Concerned Citizens of Los Osos

CASE = Citizens for Affordable and Safe Environment

CAWS = Citizens for Affordable Wastewater Systems

TAPPS = Taxpayers Against Percolation Ponds

Sewer Plant Construction Site Tour!!

September 25, 2014: Public Tour of the Water Recycling Facility construction site from 5pm to 6pm.  For more information and to sign up to attend, contact Rosalyn Piza at rpiza@co.slo.ca.us or (805) 788-2759.

This was copied and pasted right off the County's Los Osos Wastewater Treatment Plant website website at:

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/PW/LOWWP.htm

Make your appointment now! Plus, scan the website if you have not done so in a while!!

Sewer-Water, the County's New Website!

Part of the Los Osos sewer project are the mandatory-for-hook-up to the sewer water conservation measures. The County just put up a new website, http://conservelososos.org/ to assist anyone not yet on board. Everything is explained on what you need to do, including a video on how to install a new shower head! (Also a map of which areas need to do these measures.)

Needless to say, the sooner you are tricked out with these water saving measures, the more you will be saving our water basin!

Largest Latin American Sewer!

A behemoth sewer that will be ten years in the making in 2018 is being dug under Mexico City! A tunnel the width of a three-lane highway deserves a mention on Los Osos' tiny sewer blog. Read the story off the link below:

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268779/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=gqCNRhIf

However, on a more alarming note, I found a fascinating article on Mexico City's water; drinking and sewer (aguas negras). I have never been to Mexico City, only Puerta Vallarta, Los Mochis,  Escuinapa (where the car had a flat), Tepic, (where I think I had some KFC for lunch) and Tijuana, (but I only got sick when I ate raw oysters in PV). It is sobering to find what can happen if you don't clean up your water:

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/feb/05/mexico-city-water-torture-city-sewage

Video Lesson in Proper Roman Bathroom Behavior

To pick up again on the Roman sewer theme I found an unexpected video! Thanks go to the BBC's "Horrible Histories!"

Resolution 83-13, Apocalypse Then and Now

The resident turnover in Los Osos is probably low compared to other places. The only stats I could find was off this website http://www.city-data.com/city/Baywood-Los-Osos-California.html#b where 6.77% of this county's 2006 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2005. So what is correct for Los Osos today, I don't know.

The point being however, as it was with me when I got here, there is a certain percentage who know very little about about the sewer history in Los Osos and how it got that way. And there is a certain percentage of longer time residents who don't know either. Depending on who you talk to, there can be quite a variation in stories.

One good place to learn the still-relevant history, although it makes a difficult read due to funky typing and primitive and hideous scanning, is to read the actual Resolution 83-13 by the Regional Water Quality Control Board (Region 3). What is the Prohibition Zone and why do we have one?

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast//water_issues/programs/los_osos/docs/1983_09_27_memo_bp_amendment_res_83_13.pdf

The timetable for building a sewer was outlined thus:

• Begin Design November1, 1984
• Complete Design November 1, 1985
• Obtain Construction Funding December 1, 1985
• Begin Construction April 1, 1986
• Complete Construction November 1, 1988

Yikes. COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC!

The draft of 83-13, with a much easier map to see just where the PZ landed, is on this document.

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/water_issues/programs/los_osos/docs/draft_res_83_12_000.pdf

The Staff Report for 83-13 is also illuminating, where the lot size to be excluded from "THE ZONE" was lowered to 1/2 acre.

Here is a tasty morsel from that report:

Adoption of this amendment will help prevent numerous problems that have resulted from on-site disposal systems. Water quality problems have resulted from systems located in sites unsuitable for on-site systems such as improper soils, areas of high groundwater, areas of high bedrock, or on lots that are too small. Inadequate design, inferior construction, inadequate operation and maintenance, inadequate local agency regulation, and a lack of consideration of the cumulative impacts of on-site systems have also contributed to such problems.

Also relevant is this document, Resolution 84-13, an amendment to 83-13. It adds that while the addition of 1,150 additional homes (but no more!) would increase the nitrogen in the groundwater, it would not result in the degradation of the quality of the lower groundwater aquifer.

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/water_issues/programs/los_osos/docs/1984_01_19_res_84_13.pdf

Amazing how this lack of a sewer went on for so long. And how a lessening of the actual water supply from the lower aquifer was not though of at all with the addition to so many new homes prior to 1987. 

The whole story is pretty amazing. Not in a good way of course.

Sewage, Santa Barbara Style

When in Rome, or in this California-based case, more like the Roman territories, Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior, one should do as the HCs or HUs do. And this being a sewer blog, of course, one should look to sewer history as "doing" as the Romans did, sewage-style. This involves a lot of marble and trenches with sluices of water, as Romans imported their culture everywhere they went and this meant better toilets for Hispania Citerior or Hispania Ulterior. Not too sure if the Roman influence stuck by the time the Spaniards claimed California though.

Check this out:
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/romeancientrome/ig/Ancient-Rome/Latrine-in-Roman-Spain.htm

There was a marble counter in our hotel bathroom here in Santa Barbara, so there is still a thin slice of Roman style here today. Decent water-flushing toilets being a thicker slice, I would say. 

So, sewer-wise, what exactly is there here in Santa Barbara? El Estero! Watch this video!
http://santabarbara.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=300

(Watch the "Stinky Tank" in action!)

A very kid-friendly video can be found at this link, but it is much more detailed than the first video. I learned a ton! But the music was....way too peppy to be sewer music.
http://santabarbara.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=79

Want to know where this plant is? Take a look on a map:

The address is 520 East Yanonali Street.

Here is the home page for the sewage stuff:
http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/pw/resources/wastewater/estero.asp

Take a photo tour!
http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/pw/resources/wastewater/esterophoto.asp

The plant was within walking distance from our hotel (sadly, no time for a visual) and even closer to the swank Fess Parker Doubletree Resort. Both hotels are across the street from the beach.

What I did have time for was a photo across an ocean inlet of the exterior of the zoo, which is kept green with recycled water from the treatment plant.

Something's Fishy with Salmon

Tom Salmon had a Letter to the Editor published in the Tribune the other day. He is thumping on the LOCSD for issuing the water conservation measures (that were recently posted on their website and voted on at their August 7 meeting). Read their news release on their website.

"Too little to late" he accuses, then proceeds to slam them for not demanding that they sternly tell the County that they can't put the water he speaks of in the bay.

Read Salmon's letter here:
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/08/18/3200944/too-little-too-late.html?sp=/99/181/182/

Salmon speaks of "treatable water." Treatable by who? Stored and put where? Could that have been done? Sure, but at what cost to the sewer project, and more to the point, what delays? Yes, delays, while the project ground to a halt to sort out where to put that water.

Actually, the LOCSD had very little that it could say about that water that he refers to—water sucked out of the ground from the sewer project trenching. Most of it was used at Tri-W—oops, the Mid-Town site—and for the water trucks to spray for dust suppression, and yes, some of it went into the bay! The LOCSD had even less ability as to what it could do with the water.

Offer it to the the avocado farmers in Morro Bay! Put it in at Broderson! Clean up the water and....well, I'm not sure what came after that. It not like there were a bunch of tanks to store it in. Or that people that could be lined up with buckets. Who would pay for the clean-up? The sewer project? The LOCSD?

He thinks that because the LOCSD is part of the groundwater basin adjudication, that they could somehow mount a lawsuit from inside of that—on the almost completed ruling (this thing has been going on for YEARS). How shortsighted that would be? Put years of work to actually manage the basin in jeopardy. The LOCSD is not the only entity in that lawsuit either - the County is a player, Golden State Water and S & T Mutual Water are in this as well.

He seems to be unaware that the District is emerging from bankruptcy. Money is tight and ANY monies not pledged elsewhere must go to water conservation where is is not happening fully yet, at the household level.

Three hundred thousand to one million gallons of water flows into the bay naturally, DAILY, from springs, seeps and an upper aquifer overfilled form septic tank outflow.

Naturally, the Water Board was bombarded with the sewer detractor's angst and asked the County what was gong on?

Here in .jpg form is the County's response (click on the image to see a larger size). Read where the water went and why:

You can also read my response letter in the Tribune to Salmon's unfair accusations:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/08/19/3202157/litigation-expensive.html?sp=/99/181/182/

Need a New Career?

It's common these days to have two or more careers in the course of a working lifetime. Maybe you are sick of your job? Since this is a sewer blog, and since you are reading this, and IF you need a career change, how about becoming a Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator?

Read about it here!

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-system-operators.htm

http://www.cwea.org/crj_new_howstart_becomeoper.shtml

http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/operator_certification/oit_info.shtml

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/operator_certification/docs/ocr_table.pdf

Sewer Levels Explained and Dissed

I am intrigued by things digital, but somehow never got into gaming, yet anyway.  However, it appears that gamers have gone heavily into sewer scenes in their games (I recall writing  on Ninja Turtles some time back) and of late, there has been some backlash to these "sewer levels" (as they are called).

First, let's define what we are talking about here:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AbsurdlySpaciousSewer

Now for the anti-sewer level rant:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/07/28/neon-struct-first-person-stealth-eldritch/#comments

Be sure to click on the entertaining comments below the Readers' Digest ad for "27 Foods You Should Never Buy Again," and its accompanying photo of cheese—hard cheese, say like Asiago or Ragusano or a Grana Padano. (Which, if you click on the link in the last paragraph of the article called "15-tonne lump of fat and filth" actually, kinda makes sense.) Not that I have anything against cheese in moderation. I just hope this link is still there when you get to this article and that it hasn't been replaced by an ad more tailored to your interests in case it does not happen to be dissing cheese.

I know, I am straying far from Los Osos. But frankly, the sewer news around here has been rather thin of late. A good thing, I think. We really ought to expand our horizons beyond the conveyance of bodily wastes.

It Couldn't Happen Here....

....this is a drainage tunnel, we have nothing like this here, nor are we likely to ever have anything "drainage" of this magnitude, but take a look at this sewer art by Judith Supines in Queens!!

http://www.supertouchart.com/2014/08/01/street-life-judith-supines-sewer-sculpture-in-nyc/

Project Update June 2014

The County just posted the latest update on the LOWWP! Click the link to read the latest info!! The photos are amazing!!!

xhttp://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/LOWWP/PM+Monthly+Update+Jun2014.pdf

Today and Tomorrow at the Water Board...

The perpetual Closed Session item:

4.    Los Osos CSD v. Central Coast Water Board (San Luis Obispo County Case No. CV 060146 (TSO 00-131)

Perhaps, in 2016, when we are flushing and forgetting, the plant busy cleaning up the foul waters and ghastly solids that we are sending to it, this item will come off of the Water Board's agenda.....

I wonder how much they actually talk about this?

Meanwhile, in noodling around on things sewer, I came across the word, "sanitarian." If you are interested, you can read about it here:

http://www.neha.org/credential/

Staging Area - Forlorn!

It looks so empty now. The staging area, once filled with piles of green pipes and tons of equipment is scraped and barren.

Lazy Sewer Reporting

Yes, this should have been posted last Friday. Oh well. Here it is now:

I attended LOCAC on Thursday, July 24, 2014. Sewer stuff was discussed when questions were asked of our District 2 Supervisor, Bruce Gibson. (Q and As below are paraphrased.)

Question: Has there been any movement on converting our septics to cisterns for rain water?

Supe BG: It is a permitting issue. County Planner Kerry Brown may work on consolidating the permitting process to one permit and one inspection. The County will try to make it as low cost as possible, maybe even free. Planning and Public Works are in discussion on this right now.

Question: Some people have already put in their laterals but they are not connected. What happens next?

Supe BG: It will need to be videoed. We are discouraging the "over achievers" on doing this now. There will be a massive outreach and a place to drop in to talk about what to do, or you can come to South Bay Community Center weekly or bi-weekly.

Part of Mr. Gibson's report to LOCAC was that ARB has substantially completed their part of the trenching. Their punch list is now under 50. Public Works, in addition to finalizing the remedial treatment for the battered streets, says the actual work will wait until the warranty period on the trench work has expired. That way, if any problems with the trench work arise, they will be under ARB's warranty and ARB will need to fix those problems. The treatment plant is under construction and no issues have arisen there (according to John Waddell, Project Manager).

Also mentioned was financing for laterals. It will likely be a low-interest loan or grants. There are three or four different programs being looked at for an income-tested basis. This might start mid-2015.

There was an interesting discussion on pot-growing here in Los Osos, but that was not sewer-related, so won't be reported here. (You should have been there!)

The Streets of Los Osos

I attended Bruce Gibson's office hours today at Sea Pines and the topic of street restoration came up. Yes, restoration is upcoming early next year! All of the streets are being evaluated now as to what type of restoration they will get, slurry seal all the way to a new lift of asphalt, and that assessment will be finished later this year. The County's road fund and the project will both contribute funds to this project.

Yayyyy-y-y-y-y!!!

San Francisco's Sewage

What is a trip to San Francisco without wastewater reporting when you have a sewer blog? I kept hoping for at least a manhole cover to show you as I was walking along the streets downtown. But all I saw without getting run over in traffic was PG & E manhole covers. Most disappointing.

I had better luck on the sewer front as we were driving out of town to go home. On the Great Highway, there are two sewage-related buildings. First I saw a Pump Station—the Westside Pump Station. Here is a shot of it by Ben Niehaus. I was driving, bummer, no shot for me! His has better weather than mine would have had however.

Next, just beyond this, was the Oceanside Treatment Plant! What a bonanza, yet I had to drive right past them both! Bummer!

So I googled them when I got home. Here is a great article by Mark Lukach, “Poop Parade: Behind the Scenes of the Oceanside Treatment Plant.”

http://oceanbeachbulletin.com/2011/07/11/the-poop-parade-behind-the-scenes-of-the-oceanside-treatment-plant/

You might want to get an overview of San Francisco’s entire sewage picture, so I have provided some fun links.

San Francisco Sewer System Master Plan as of 2010:

http://www.sfwater.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=723

Appendix H of said plan (CSD stands for “Combined Sewer Discharge - sewer and storm waters):

http://sfwater.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=664

Appendix I of that plan - S.F. Pump stations:

http://sfwater.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=661

Westside Pump Station map:

http://wikimapia.org/4124921/Westside-Pump-Station

Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant map:

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=37.747440&lon=-122.499619&z=14&m=b&show=/1771029/Oceanside-Water-Pollution-Control-Plant

But even cooler is this map, that shows both plants, plus a whole lot more:

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=37.734807&lon=-122.506485&z=19&m=b

Art, apparently at the Westside Pump Station!

http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/earth-air-sea.html

Coolest of all are the TOURS!!! Access the information off this link:

http://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=95

I will try to better coordinate my next trip north.

Major Metropolitan Street Potty

San Francisco! Wish I'd had the time to go in to see what it was like!

The Art of........

What was Rodin thinking? 

Art, especially GREAT art, is subject to interpretation. 

Click image for larger size.

Electric Trench

Today, on Paso Robles, between 17th and 18th Streets, a trench was dug for an electrical connection for the pump station.

Above is the trench, below is the West Paso Pump Station on the Walker property, Walker Ditch being off to the left, past the "No Idling" sign.

If you want to know more about pump stations, check out the links below!

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/Design+Division/300448.08.01.PS.2A.pdf

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Assets/PW/Design+Division/300448.08.01.PS.1A.pdf

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/PW/LOWWP/DOCS/Current_Documents/300448_08_01_PS.htm

Stuck in Denver

The next 8 hours will be spent here in Denver. At the airport. So instead of whining about the missed flight, I may as well make lemonade out of lemons. Or clean water out of sewage, a better analogy for this blog. 

Denver sewage appears to be so complicated that it is opaque. Not much info on the main sewage collection area. However, the Metro Area Water Reclamation District is building a new facility and they had a web page with the public meeting materials. I thought - hey, let's see how many hundreds of links there would be for that sewer! Here is the link so you can see too:

http://www.metrowastewater.com/know/NTP/Pages/communitymeeting.aspx

Three. They have three. And the sewer will be built in 2016! What's wrong with these people!!!!! Don't they know that they can delay these things for decades and pay millions more? They should hire someone from Los Osos to show them how this is REALLY done.

Anyway, if you want to see the Denver page for what looks to be the main city and county stuff, here it is:

www.denvergov.org/Default.aspx?alias=www.denvergov.org/wastewatermanagement

So little drama, such a pity.

Omaha Sewer Facts!

Omaha has a sewer service population of 600,000 and has a sewer system that handles raw sewage, a combo of sewage and storm water, and one for storm water alone, the last of which does not concern us here! Apparently that combo sewer can cause problems, so those combo sewer lines are getting scheduled to be replaced by two separate pipes, one for sewage and one for storm water.

Oddly, I ran into an example of that at the Lauritzen Gardens, the city's botanical garden. Read the text on the signs below this group picture (click image for the large size). Combo sewer really are on their way out. 

I suspect these green pipes are sewer-related air intakes for the sewer piping below in the street in downtown Omaha, but could not find confirmation anywhere.

Now, of much more interest is this place, the Harney Street Force Main Building:

It is right on the banks of the Missouri River. Just stumbled on it by accident because since I was in Omaha, I had to see the Missouri River. And there this sewage-related thing was. It took forever to find anything online on this place. But I did find this document (I was too stingy to pay for anything but the cheapo hotel internet connection, so maybe your download to view won't be as awful as mine was):

http://bidding.oscarrenda.com/misc.%20projects/Omaha,%20NE/South%20Interceptor/Supplemental/2008%2008%2015%20-%20Emergency%20Response%20Plan%20To%20Address%20a%20Failure%20of%20the%20South%20Interceptor%20Force%20Main.pdf

Sewage spill possibilities and remedies are outlined. This is a city that has flooded before. It is next to a major river. The photos of pump stations and levees are at the end.

There just doesn't seem to be that much on Omaha's sanitation system, a large old city. It has less historical sewer stuff than Los Osos by far. Here is what I found more generally:

http://www.cityofomaha.org/pw/index.php/residents2/sewer/sewer-system

http://omahacso.com/files/4013/6604/9848/OmahaLTCP_Executive_Summary.pdf

And there are these three plants:

Missouri River Wastewater Treatment Plant:

http://www.cityofomaha.org/pw/index.php/residents2/sewer/missouri-river-wastewater-treatment-plant

http://omahacso.com/projects/moriverwwtp

http://www.cityofomaha.org/pw/index.php/residents2/sewer/sewer-insepections-and-studies

http://www.omaha.com/news/a-less-smelly-south-omaha-new-system-is-aimed-at/article_b9b55e16-009c-565f-af6a-552a6344fa02.html

Papillion Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant:

http://www.cityofomaha.org/pw/index.php/residents2/sewer/papillion-creek-wastewater-treatment-plant

Elkhorn Wastewater Treatment Plant: - couldn't find zip on it, maybe this is why:

http://dataomaha.com/salaries/omaha/plant-ops-elkhorn

Too dinky.

However, if in need, Omaha can give you some sewer back-up help:

Backwater Prevention Assistance Program 

The City of Omaha Backwater Prevention Assistance Program is one of the City of Omaha's solutions to minimize sewer backups in homes and businesses situated in combined sewer neighborhoods that are not immediately scheduled for a sewer separation under the City of Omaha CSO Control Program. If eligible, a "Backwater Valve" will be installed by a licensed plumber in the home/business to prevent future wet-weather related basement back-ups. For more information, call (402) 444-5332 and indicate that you are inquiring about the City of Omaha's Backwater Prevention Assistance Program.

Amazing how much sewage-related stuff one can find roaming around a city without even looking for it!

Candy Gone So Very, Very Wrong,

Toilet plunger sour apple candy. Eeeeuuuuuuu-u-uu-u-u-u-u-u!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdogWWkL6tI

Toilet candy....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKbldTkeLsE

Flush & Forget at 39,000 Feet!

It was a lovely day up in the air. And I was sitting there looking at clouds. I would show you on this post, but the file is too large to embed here on blogger, so here is the link to myYouTube video.:

http://youtu.be/_8VQmGS07Iw

Then I had the idea to video a different sort of flush-and-forget—not the kind we will have in out own abodes in 2016, but a more fluid and vacuumy one, one that is alive and in action during the time and space continuum of flight! Plus, there is a really unnatural blue hue involved in the water doing the flushing; toilet bowl cleaner on steroids, more or less. I will not describe the aroma of that here.

The toilet seemed to take an awfully long time to flush too. Not water wise, but non-discriminatory, given that it didn't know the content. Maybe these toilets will eventually evolve into the dual flush model found in politically correct airports in drought areas.

http://youtu.be/ZAHxOy5-mpk

Fortunately, most of the time none of this stuff exits the plane while in the air. However, I have been on a plane when there was just one flush too many, and that little room was tagged with an off limits sign.

You can visit this page below to get a good description as to where the outgo goes, and where it sometimes goes accidentally, plus some other airborne sewage history! Note the words "blue ice."

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/02/long_island_couple_pelted_with_poo_where_do_airplanes_dump_their_waste_.html

More fun facts too off of this link!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_lavatory

Sewer Opposites Battle on Tribune

The County's sewer project is humming right along, but as with anything sewer in Los Osos, or in this case, tangentially sewer, the dissing by the project's detractors never ends. I always try to correct sewer mis-information wherever I find it. See the link below:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/07/07/3142907/slo-mulls-rules-for-well-on-prado.html?fb_comment_id=fbc_689822584426292_689964614412089_689964614412089#f1f12101d

The Honeymooners

Most of you are too young to know about a TV show that played last century in the mid-50s. Sad to say, I recall this show well and not from Hulu or something. 

I was there sitting cross-legged in T-shirt, shrug and my pedal-pushers in front of that large wooden box standing on legs with a curved glass screen set in the front of it that only displayed a sometimes fuzzy black and white image, depending on the weather.  A 1/2" wide flat, brown cable snaked out from the back of the set through a hole in the exterior wall up to the antenna anchored to the roof. This is what brought the picture into the house from the TV waves zipping through the L.A. smog. 

The Honeymooners was one of many great shows in semi-early TV and Ed Norton was ranked number 20 on a list of 50 of all time best TV characters by TV Guide in 1999.

I only bring all of this up because one of the characters,  Ed Norton (played by Art Carney) was a sewer worker (for 17 years) and he had some pretty memorable quotes, which can be found on this link.

http://www.sewerhistory.org/misc/honey.htm

The show ran from October 1, 1955 to September 22. 1956. Ed worked in the New York Sewer Department and said that he was, "Sub-supervisor in the sub-division of the department of sub-terranian sanitation, I just keep things moving along."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY_q_dlOCDU

Take a look. Ed gets fired from his sewer job!

In STEP With The Supremes!

No, STEP-ing with SCOTUS—not dancing with the musical group The Supremes, although that would be fun! Hey! Everyone has to deal with a sewer in their lives it appears, not just the residents of the Prohibition Zone in Los Osos!

Here is just the first page to the document found at the link below:

I was noodling around the Internet on my phone, bored, waiting for some appointment or other, and I found a case in 2012 that was a sewer question actually decided by the U.S. Supreme Court! Naturally, it was a sewer funding fight based on equal protections to taxpayers! On June 4, 2012, the Supremes ruled in favor of the city of Indianapolis and against 31 Northern Estates residents.

Indianapolis was requiring that the people in this neighborhood abandon their septic tanks and hook up to a sewer that had a line now going by their properties. There were two sorts of payment plans when the project began; you could pay the entire $9,278 up front or you could pay incremental amounts over 30, 20 years, or 10 years.

In any case, the city changed its method of funding (from the Barrett Law*) to one called STEP, the Septic Tank Elimination Program, which financed projects like this partially by selling bonds, which lowered the cost to the individual to hook up to the sewer. This also came with much less administrative work, where monthly payments as low as $25 would drag on for as long as 30 years. Those who paid the sewer assessment in full would not be getting a refund, as opposed to those who paid as little as $309.57, whose debt for the rest was forgiven. Unfair!

The city's argument of administrative convenience and cost, trumped the homeowner's claim of unfairness. The Supreme Court explained that there needed to only be a plausible policy reason to agree with the city.

Read further:

http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/20125832.htm

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-161.pdf

It would seem that the Supreme Court does not have the tools to get down into the weeds of local government. The city spent about $200,000 to defend itself (cheap by Los Osos lawsuit standards!) and I could not find how much the neighborhood spent in taking this to the Supremes. It was probably just a whole lot cheaper just to eat the $9, 278, instead of paying that amount, PLUS the legal costs. But logic does not apply to emotion-filled grievances here in Los Osos or, apparently, in Indianapolis either! And gambling seems to be an inborn response in hopes of better outcomes.

* Indiana's Barrett Law - the total cost of a project is divided up equally among those receiving the benefits.

Sewer Featured in Flick

Went to the Palm Theater in SLO last Sunday to see a special screening of a FILM (to be differentiated from a movie).

The Last Wave (Black Rain, U.S. title) was released in 1977 and was directed by Peter Weir. I won't spoil the plot if you haven't seen it (it IS well worth seeing, a short review can be found at this link). However, this being a sewer blog, this must be reported! A sewer in Sydney, Australia, gets featured as a gateway to a subterranean otherworldly place. The capture below simply does not do it justice, it's a pretty cool sewer. See it for yourself!

If you have Hulu Plus, you can watch it here:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/237124
Watch the trailer there, but a better version is here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004D4Q9CW/ref=atv_feed_catalog?tag=imdb-amazonvideo-20

May 2014 Project Update!

Here is a link to the latest project update! Great progress!! Click this LINK to read the report!

On 16th! Some Action!

Sewer-wise, it has been dullsville of late. Until it is time to hook-up to the pipes coming out of our houses to the pipes to the treatment plant out of town, there is not much to amuse or ponder. The pipes are in the street and the generator and pump station buildings are going up quietly. You can't see anything of the treatment plant from the road.

However, two days ago, a truck with three men rolled up to the manhole down the street. The cover was pried off, then the man in the white hazmat outfit reached down inside, smoothing some edges or other and adding some tape. They were all very nice and explained that they were sealing the manhole covers. I must say, the inside was as sparkly white as Jonah Hill's fake teeth in "Wolf of Wall Street!" That can't last, expect the Austin Powers look of ghastly dentition after a few seasons, but it is a nice way to start!

Sewage Treatment from 10,000 Feet

This photo taken while flying over Phoenix a couple of days ago will never replace Google Earth's. The windows of the jet looked like they had been cleaned with Brillo pads inside and out. I don't have a great camera, and the angle from window to treatment plant was just plain wrong. However, when you write a sewer blog, you are happy to have found fresh grist for the mill, or perhaps more precisely, not-so-fresh excretia in a traditional treatment mode.

Please employ the far better rendition off of Google Earth to get the true feel of this, where you can zoom down to gaze into the frothing currents of the aeration tanks! Fortunately, the resolution isn't so great that you can identify anything untoward in the clarifiers (the solid bundles probably didn't make it through the screening process intact anyway). The address to input into Google Earth for a better view is: 5615 South 91st Avenue, Tolleson, AZ.

There are two other treatment plants for Phoenix for which you can also Google Earth!

• 23rd Avenue - use these latitude and longitude coordinates for fun instead of an address:

33.424727, -112.111138

• Cave Creek - 22841 North Cave Creek Road
, Phoenix, AZ

For a little background of likely useless information:

• The wastewater system includes two city-owned wastewater plants (a third is not), almost 5,000 miles of sewer mains and 78,000 manholes.

• More than 250 million gallons of wastewater is treated each day, servicing about 2.5 million customers (just think, in 2016 we too will become "customers," not depositors into septic tanks!)

• More than 90 percent of Phoenix’s wastewater is highly treated and reused for crops, power generation and turf irrigation.

• Phoenix uses cameras and high tech equipment to clean grease, roots and other debris from about a third of its sewer lines each year.

• Numerous award-winning videos and public service announcements have been produced featuring actor Leslie Nielsen.

• The City of Phoenix Water Services Department is more than 100 years old.

• Phoenix, Arizona is the nation’s fifth largest city, encompassing about 540 square miles.

• There are about 30 sewage lift stations (don't they know for sure???).

For an interesting read on Maricopa County, the existing and planned wastewater treatment facilities, go peruse this pdf!

http://www.azmag.gov/documents/pdf/cms.resource/wastewater-treatment.pdf

For some fun photos of googled term "city Phoenix wastewater treatment plant" (although a nuclear power plant in Michigan found its way in this collection), visit:

http://www.google.com/search?q=city+phoenix+wastewater+treatment+plant&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=lG6uU4-gEcr9oASGh4DICA&ved=0CBsQsAQ4Cg&biw=1439&bih=679

Toilet Book for Tots

Relatives with a humorous bent gifted me with a delightful book which I am very happy to plug on my blog. It's right on topic here! After all, what is the use of a sewer for Los Osos if there are no toilets? Do many of us even know how a toilet works?

I would hope that people with children would buy a copy, and depending on their age, read them the whole story, or have them read you the story! I am showing you only a sampling here. The book employs some humor, but thankfully avoids what is considered "bathroom humor." Actually, adults could learn a lot here too.

The title is Toilet How It Works, and the author is David Macaulay. It runs 32 pages plus cover. It is for kids in Reading Level 4. Both septic tanks and conventional waste treatment are nicely illustrated. Perhaps some in this town will lobby Mr. Macaulay to write in STEP and Vacuum systems for the next edition!  Hey, how about composting toilets? He could illustrate cleaning one out for the kiddies! We should always be inclusively politically correct, should we not?

You will want to see the large and fun drawing of intestines that precedes the smaller set in the photo below!

There are some very cute bacteria commenting on pages 17 and 26!

There is a nifty sludge press illustrated on page 25.

Perhaps Mr. Macaulay can in a future book illustrate the political fight in Los Osos over sewer technologies! It seems that Reading Level 4 is about the right speed to make this battle understandable to the world outside Los Osos. It might clarify some things for insiders too.