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Poloboy · 03-03-2005, 10:21 PM

Normally, like most other people, I do my business on the toilet and get on with my day, never thinking about where my crap goes after I flush the toilet. If it's a legendary no-wiper I might give myself a pat on the back (after washing my hands) and continue my day with an extra spring in my step, forgetting about it 2 minutes later.

Not anymore.

Today in my second year microbiology class we learned about sewage systems, and the importance of microorganisms like bacteria in sanitizing the sewage before it's pumped back into the environment.

Sewage treatment is broken down into three steps. It's standard to do primary and secondary treatment (only a handful of cities in North America also do tertiary). Primary is physical treatment, which means passing the water through a screen with small holes to stop all the big pieces of poo, limbs, needles, and dead cats getting through. Primary treatment also includes sedimentation, which is letting other big chunks settle to the bottom of a tank and letting the fluid on top pass on. Secondary treatment is when all of the disgusting organic compounds (e.g. body fluids, pathogenic bacteria etc.) actually get removed.

The scary part, is that I also learned my city only does primary treatment. In fact, it only does part of primary treatment. Our sewage is run through a physical screen once and then is flushed out onto the beach right by my house. I always thought this sewage drain was pretty disgusting. Little did I know my city skips the process that removes 90-95% of the organic material from sewage. So much for skimboarding at that beach ever again.

Do you know what your city does? Do you know the extent of its sewage treatment? Never before did I give this a moment of thought. Now that I know about it, I'm thoroughly disgusted. The BC provincial government just announced they're buying something like 50 hybrid cars for government personnel to drive, to show some leadership in the community for environmental concern.

Leaders in environmental concern? I call bullshit.

03-03-2005, 10:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
Poloboy Insane Location: Canada	Sewage? Who gives a shit? Normally, like most other people, I do my business on the toilet and get on with my day, never thinking about where my crap goes after I flush the toilet. If it's a legendary no-wiper I might give myself a pat on the back (after washing my hands) and continue my day with an extra spring in my step, forgetting about it 2 minutes later. Not anymore. Today in my second year microbiology class we learned about sewage systems, and the importance of microorganisms like bacteria in sanitizing the sewage before it's pumped back into the environment. Sewage treatment is broken down into three steps. It's standard to do primary and secondary treatment (only a handful of cities in North America also do tertiary). Primary is physical treatment, which means passing the water through a screen with small holes to stop all the big pieces of poo, limbs, needles, and dead cats getting through. Primary treatment also includes sedimentation, which is letting other big chunks settle to the bottom of a tank and letting the fluid on top pass on. Secondary treatment is when all of the disgusting organic compounds (e.g. body fluids, pathogenic bacteria etc.) actually get removed. The scary part, is that I also learned my city only does primary treatment. In fact, it only does part of primary treatment. Our sewage is run through a physical screen once and then is flushed out onto the beach right by my house. I always thought this sewage drain was pretty disgusting. Little did I know my city skips the process that removes 90-95% of the organic material from sewage. So much for skimboarding at that beach ever again. Do you know what your city does? Do you know the extent of its sewage treatment? Never before did I give this a moment of thought. Now that I know about it, I'm thoroughly disgusted. The BC provincial government just announced they're buying something like 50 hybrid cars for government personnel to drive, to show some leadership in the community for environmental concern. Leaders in environmental concern? I call bullshit.