Tardigrades In Turkmenistan Too!

Now and then I check the Blogger stats to see where the readers here are reading from! It appears that Turkmenistan has outdone Russia in "reading" this blog about sewage in Los Osos (it used to be Russia). That should raise some red flags about who is looking at what. And I hope it is simply random snooping. Other than the reading explosion on the topic of the sewer rate increase which was a few of weeks ago now of course, my readers are usually one or two, well maybe three? on a good day.

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." 

• https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/eje/4/2/article-p124.xml 

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/

Here is a photo I took on the tour of our sewer on April 27, 2016! 

I know it is hard to see, but there is a photo of a tardigrade second row from the bottom (click to enlarge).

Tardigrades are teeny! They are about 1 mm (0.04 inch) or less in size.

Now, inside the plant's lab, this beaker probably teems with tardigrades
and a few other things as well......(see the chart above).

While we are here, take a look at the cool lab! It looks like a fun place to work!

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

(This is my mug. Coffee tastes better in a tardigrade mug! Hopefully with no tardigrades floating in it.)

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!

Tardigrade luggage tags!

Tardigrade phone case!

And SO much, much more!

And, there IS more, but I am tired of uploading tardigrades!

* Disputed for a certain length of time for one species of tardigrades anyway:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a30538168/tardigrade-water-bear-weakness/

I'm Nervous About Nylon!

I'm again ravin' about Maven! I find more interesting articles on that webpage (I subscribe to the daily digest), although a few days ago it was a bit more scary than usual. The topic was microplastics, and slightly off topic of what my topic today is, nylon, apparently just what micro-plastics are has not yet been precisely defined by the State Water Board in terms of size! Off topic I know, but the PhD brainiacs are tasked with coming up with a legal definition for regulations by 2021.

Microplastics are in the oceans, in fish, in everywhere basically, as plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller particles with age. (Hence the need for a precise definition; what size are they anyway?) For example, I was weeding in my back yard on Friday, as the stay-at-home orders have caused a remarkable amount of free time to now spend on other things which heretofore was unavailable due to in-person meetings as opposed to the current Zoom meetings. No time wasted on driving to get there or spending depressing amounts of time squishing myself into my increasingly shrinking jeans! COVID-19 is causing a weight crisis in my life. Anyway, I found an old plastic bag amongst the weeds, and I literally could not pick it up; it kept breaking into smaller and smaller bits!

Now for the equally and more personally scary part, as I have had no time to get used to this idea the way I have with micro plastics. Apparently, polyester, nylon and synthetic fibers shed when you wash clothes made of them and this material winds up at wastewater plants. Now in the video linked below, the interviewee says this does not get filtered out and winds up in discharge waters from the plant. Well, at the moment, we have no discharge waters, our recycled water goes to the Broderson leach field, the golf course, maintaining wetlands at some point, non-existent farmers at the moment, school playgrounds. Up to 40% of the artificial garment material goes down the drain to wind up swirling around in our primary clarifiers!

Well, take a look - go to 17:21 on the video for this ghastly revelation:

https://mavensnotebook.com/2020/05/24/daily-digest-weekend-edition-judge-refuses-to-divert-water-for-salmon-on-klamath-river-orange-county-water-districts-consider-lawsuit-over-pfas-contamination-intense-heatwave-developing-raining-r/

Am I clogging up the Broderson with my molting nylon leggings? I have seven pairs! This is depressing. I am feeling guilty. Cotton just does not stretch, which is an especially needed feature right now.

Delinquent!

I was scrolling through Nextdoor this evening and came across the real estate listings which are always fun to read even if I have zero plans on moving. My May 22 blog posting had a quote from the Basin Management Committee's staff report on delinquent sewer hook-ups.

 Put two and two together, and two buildings that have not hooked-up are listed for sale!

$699,000For sale

1937 11th St, Los Osos, CA

Great income earning opportunity ! Both units have two bedrooms and two bathrooms with a fireplace in each living room . They are close to town , schools and the park. They rent for 1600.00 each and are currently rented . If you are looking for rentals look no further . Please allow a 24 hour notice for showings . A notice of default has been issued . Also the septic needs to be converted to sewer. BOTH duplexes are for sale. 1947-1949 and 1937-1939 are $740,000.00 each .

$699,000For sale

1947 11th St, Los Osos, CA

If your looking for income earning rentals , look NO further ! Both duplexes are currently rented and they have two bedrooms and two bathrooms with a fireplace in each living room . They are close to town, the park and schools . The duplex right next to it is for sale as well which is the same square footage and floor plan . I am also selling that one too . 1937-1939 and 1947-1949 11th Street. You can buy one or both ! A notice of default has been filed .

Well, good luck to the owner! I'm sure the County is aware of these and now you dear reader (or dear bot), and I am too. And anyone else on our local Nextdoor too. I like the fact that one could easily walk to Sylvester's, La Casita and Kuma living here! (One can Google Earth these buildings if curious, I did not include the pictures.)

I have no idea what code enforcement does, but I think the tenants don't have to worry. The parking is generous in the front, so I suspect that is where the tanks are, not in the back. So look for the parking lots in front of the buildings to be torn up in the near future. I for one will do so, as I drive my car around town to keep the battery from dying. I promised the auto club I wouldn't call them out again.

WEF's Wastewater Professional Guide

Readers here, all three of you, but maybe you are actually bots not readers (Russia still likes Los Osos according to the analytics provided by Blogger), well, whatever you are, you are getting more reading material (or maybe just cataloging data) of late from me! Small comfort I know during this horrid time. 

But, I have the time now to write! Zoom meetings do not require driving someplace or even wearing anything but jammie bottoms as long as you have a nice, business-like top on, some jewelry and make-up, not to mention root concealer, argh, I miss my hairdresser horribly! Hey, bunny slippers instead of boots, although mine actually have cats on them.

So I get this great notification from Maven's Notebook daily, and some sewer emails as well (it is amazing what one can subscribe to) and I found more info on COVID-19 and sewers!

So here you go - do follow inks off of this page too:
http://cweawaternews.org/water-wastewater-professionals-guide-to-covid-19/

"Research is ongoing, but experts currently believe that exposure to wastewater is not a significant transmission route for COVID-19 virus."

On another note, I was cleaning some random papers off my desk and found a note to myself on creating a sewer dance. Why not? I am not much of a dancer, but COVID boredom might get something going.

(Hey, a pixelated wave from me to you Russia! 😜)

County Crackdown On Sluggish Septic Scrapping!

Announced at the Basin Management Committee on Wednesday, May 20, the County has run out of patience and hired extra enforcement staff. On page 14 of 25 off the link below:

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 4/2/2020, 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.

To quote from Elizabethan times, "The jig is up." I sure would love to find out the backstories on these non-hook-ups (like does sewer rage still exist?).

https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Forms-Documents/Committees-Programs/Los-Osos-Basin-Management-Committee-(BMC)/Agendas/2020-Agendas/2020-05-20-LOBMC-Agenda-Packet.aspx 

Vacant Lot Vote Legal?

The Utilities Advisory Committee of the Los Osos Community Services District got a bombshell public comment at the last period of Public Comment at Wednesday's, May 20 meeting! Sewer Watchdog Julie Tacker spoke about how she brought an irregularity to the County on the recent 218 protest vote. 

There were not enough protests to stop the sewer rate increase. But people have not given up on trying to invalidate the vote.

Julie's Public Records Request brought out the fact that approximately 500 vacant lots were allowed to make a protest vote, which as they have no house, and no sewer, no one protested. These vacant lot owners were not allowed to vote in the 2007 218 vote when we voted to assess ourselves to pay for building a sewer—to the tune of $24,941.19 per single family home. 79.67% of the properties in the Prohibition Zone voted yes, and around 70% voted. So it was a hefty YES.

These were two different types of 218 votes though. The big dollar amount needed 67% yes votes to say YES, we would assess ourselves. The rate increase type of 218 requires 50% plus one to say NO, we don't want the increase.

The figures I have showed 978 protest votes where 2,833 was the count for ballots sent out. So, if one subtracted 500 (approximately) from that count, that leaves 2,333 non-vacant lot votes. There were 978 protests. 50% of 2,333 equals 1,167, rounding up. Then add the one to get to 50% plus one, you have 1,168. So, my bad math skills compute that there should have been 190 more votes to stop the rate increase.

Anyway, this issue has gone to County legal counsel, so we will see what happens.

Extra COVID Cleanliness Impacting Bacteria!

We do not know if this huge, increased use of hand sanitizers, bleach and a chemical known as triclosan,* is impacting our very own WWTF out behind the cemetery, but it IS impacting a WWTF in Washington state. Bacteria that do the breakdown job on the nasties are being reduced, so the effectiveness of said bacteria is less. Their treated wastewater is discharged into a river (which makes its way into a lake), our goes back into our aquifer, so ours is not currently entering an ecosystem as complex as a lake with fish, plants and wildlife drinking from it anyway.

"Most water treatment plants use a process known as biological nutrient removal to break down human waste and other larger compounds in water before it’s clarified, filtered and disinfected for discharge from the plant."

Read in much more detail about it on the link below and note the fabulous photo at the top:

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/may/11/improved-hygiene-during-pandemic-may-to-be-blame-f/

The 17% of Los Osos still on septic tanks might be subject to an influx of more bleach and soap than usual (and yes, more water too). What happens to water going back into the ground if the bacteria needed to break down waste is reduced? Guess we'll find out in the years to come if anything changed. The effects of COVID-19 may live on in unexpected ways.

* Triclosan has been banned for years in some products, but it is not gone!

https://www.webmd.com/beauty/news/20180705/banned-from-soap-triclosan-in-toothpaste

The Zombie 218 Issue

Awake and lumbering across the columns of our local Nextdoor webpage is a new hot plot to turn back our now approved sewer rate increase. A handful of posters are imagining that a group would trek the neighborhoods with a protest letter to be signed, which then somehow would force a take-back the vote that the Supes did on April 21 to approve that rate increase.

Background: There were only 978 protest votes where 2,833* were needed. A decided lack of the magic number of 50% + one vote to block the increase.

Exclaiming each canvasser need only get 100 signatures, as one poster stated, I immediately noticed a math problem, and believe me, I am no whiz at math. There were six in that conversation, the total needed would be 2,833 signatures. So unless there was heavy recruitment of neighborhood zombie walkers, each of the six would actually need 472 signatures. They would need a "plague" of 28.33 zombies to do just 100 each. (I had to look that up. I could have used "mobs, swarms, drags, or appetites (!) appetites?- but the word "plague" seemed fitting for the ghastly time we are now in.)

Or, they could set up at the Kiwanis Club of Bay-Osos See's Candy selling booth by the post office, and gather signatures that way. With permission of course.

What the Supes would do with all these petitions, I have no idea. The protesters idea was: "....the Board of Supervisors could have another meeting to lower the increase?" There was also the suggestion that Supervisor Gibson knew about the Pandemic before we did to try and get as many tax dollars as possible before businesses went under. (Perhaps unaware that could unfortunately have happened before the first tax bill arrived.) This same person called Mr. Gibson, "the mayor of Gibsonville," obviously unaware that Los Osos is not a city.

I always thought zombies died when their heads were removed or their brains were destroyed. I guess not.

*The math: divide 5,663 by two = 2,831.5 and add one = 2,832.5, well make that 2,833. I don't think half a signature would work.

Future Gold In Pee!

"....it's possible to extract 70 liters of fertilizer and 930 liters of water from 1,000 liters of urine within two to three days. That's enough to irrigate and fertilize 2,000 square meters of soil."

Sounds nuts doesn't it? I guess the world is running out of a key fertilizer ingredient phosphorus, and instead of destructively tearing into the earth as they do in Morocco, China, Jordan, South Africa and countries in the Western Sahara to find this stuff, we can mine it right at home! (I had to find a conversion for liters which makes me a bit nuts that my education was so deficient—anyway, the word reminded me of the capacity in a British car engine especially if spelled "litres"—3.7854118 liters equals one gallon.....which reminded me of my first car, a 1957 Mark VIII Jaguar, saloon model [3.4 litres] for which I paid only $800. You don't want to know just when that was.)

The word "struvite" appears in the article. Had to look that up too.

"Struvite is the most common mineral found in urinary tract stones in dogs, and is found also in urinary tract stones of cats and humans.”

Further research revealed that this stuff clogs up the pipes in lift stations, just not urinary tracts!

I found that out watching the video link below. Prepare to isolate yourself elsewhere if anyone around you is sleeping. I laughed out loud a full two minutes until my trachea squeaked. It was the music that did it. I'm still laughing, I can barely type! Clearly they should have consulted our county staff for music to accompany a sewer video (who nailed it)!

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yset_chr_syc_oracle&p=struvite#id=3&vid=d37f3ed61668a1be985fab07fde356d5&action=click

Back to pee. From the article linked below:

"Germany's Fraunhofer Institute is developing a process that would allow phosphorus to be separated from sewage sludge with the help of a high-performance ultrasound."

Take a look, this is fascinating! Maybe years down the road, we will find our little sewer plant is a teeny gold mine!

https://www.dw.com/en/phosphorus-in-our-pee-the-new-gold/a-53225198

The Sewershed!

Yes, that is a word. I heard it for the first time tonight on the TV news. 

I signed up for daily emailings of sewer news of course ages ago, and get them to learn of various technologies and case studies. Testing sewage to get an idea of the COVID-19 it might contain tosses around the words "prevalence testing," and "biomarkers," but the word "sewershed" is new! But only to me. Apparently it is a real word, but the way it is applied in big cities is different than how it was used by the researcher on TV tonight. So the word expanded a bit to not mean just the storm sewer piping, where it is, what it holds, and where it goes, but also sewer water fed into a plant through home flushing.

Just how much of THE virus is floating around in the murky waters at a sewer plant? Scientists in England and in California are attempting to find out. How interesting I'd say, could it actually even BE here? But we'd be a lousy town to test for two reasons. 17% of our town is on septic tanks, and we have so few cases or maybe none officially (although I doubt that), we get nothing but silence from the County daily briefs because they only post information on towns with five or more cases.

Anyway, back to the story. The idea is to catch virus spread. How much virus is in the sewage, and is the amount going up or down. Plenty of sewer workers in the US are freaked out by virus being in the sewage and have gone on strike or demand better protections from possible airborne virus bits, etc..

On another, happier note, a wastewater treatment plant in Portland Oregon had between 15,000 and 20,000 gallons of expired beer dumped into their plant. One would hope sewer workers might have grabbed a draught or two on the way in if it wasn't too stale.