Posted on 03/07/2018 5:18:14 PM PST by SJackson
I suppose it hadn’t occurred to them to maintain/repair/replace their leaking manholes and sanitary sewer lines?
There in no money left in the northeast for required maintenance, but I believe this is actually working as designed (to prevent problems at sewage treatment plants); excess water is simply discharged without treatment.
I watched a piece about the infrastructure under NYC, and there are remnants (including wood) from colonial times...
That makes a certain amount of sense. “Combined sewers”, where raw sewage and storm drainage flow in the same pipes is common in a lot of older cities.
A lot of the wastewater treatment plants that are fed by combined sewers have what they call a swirl concentrator at their head works. It works pretty much like it sounds. It’s basin used to create a whirlpool-type effect on inflow which basically slings the “big pieces” out of the wastewater by centrifugal force and collects them for later treatment/disposal as sludge. That, and a maybe a shot of chlorine, is pretty much all the treatment the plant performs during those high-flow periods.
The older parts of Richmond, Virginia are served by combined sewers and an ancient (though periodically upgraded) WWTP. That plant has an old-school swirl concentrator.
Is Richmond asking people not to flush after storms? Brooklyn has a lot of people; I thought the request was a bad sign.
We have a fair amount of revenge and pure hatred fueled by the fire of socialism/communism here as well.
As far as I know they have not started asking people to not flush when it is raining.
Don’t they dig wells and fill reservoirs? How about water tanks?
“So how are things in Cape Town?”
Things are going surprisingly well in Cape Town. It’s amazing how quickly people adjust when they have to - most of them, anyway. We still have the dummies who see nothing wrong with watering their gardens even if they don’t have rain water tanks, not that we’ve had enough rain to fill them.
We’ve become very resourceful. Many of us are using 5 litre garden pressure sprayers as showers. It’s a rather fiddly process and certainly not luxurious, but it gets the job done. The only time I have a quick regular shower is early on a Sunday morning before Church when I need to be out early. Baby wet wipes are also in great demand. They’re wonderful for just freshening up on a hot day or in place of the mini shower on occasion. I was amazed when I started washing my hair over a bucket just how much water that used even with fairly short hair. I find that I’m washing my hair less often, and it’s not suffering.
We also have to be careful with washing dishes - no rinsing of cups and mugs after each tea or coffee. Washing machines are also used judiciously. Not every item of clothing has to be washed after each wearing.
Families must be battling in terms of getting everyone ready for work and school in the mornings. I’m fortunate in that, as a retiree, I have more time to deal with this sort of stuff.
As much of the water used as possible is saved for flushing.
I’m hoping that we can stave of Day Zero permanently as being a small built woman with a bad upper back I would have trouble with the collection of 25 litres daily. I would probably have to use 5 x 5 litre bottles. Anyway, I’ll cross that bridge if/when it happens.
“Don’t they dig wells and fill reservoirs? How about water tanks?”
Many people are buying water tanks. Unfortunately, the demand has been such that the suppliers are having trouble keeping up. Still, there are other problems. Many people cannot afford them and many others live in flats. In my ground floor flat with a garden there is a downpipe coming from the roof into my garden but as a retiree on a tight budget I’m still trying to decide whether I can afford it.
Some people having been putting in boreholes but the City has stopped issuing permission for new ones. They don’t want to put too much of a drain on the underground water.
What we are now facing is something that we haven’t needed to deal with in living memory and certainly not with the size of population that Cape Town now has. We’ve had drier years when we’ve had to limit garden watering but nothing more than that.
on a side note, I see from your Home Page that you often access Free Republic while in your pyjamas. I do the same. It saves wasting water washing extra garments. At least, that’s my excuse;-). What’s your’s?
I’m glad things have not gotten too awful.
I wish you al the best.
New York Times 3/2/18:
“New York City is calling on residents in parts of Brooklyn and Queens to cut back their water use during rainstorms by postponing showers and other chores — even waiting to flush toilets. The reason is that household sewage flows into the same underground sewer pipes that also collect rainwater runoff from rooftops and streets. When those pipes are overloaded with rainwater, the combined overflow is then discharged directly into nearby rivers, bays and creeks instead of going to wastewater treatment plants.”
Did you think I just made this up?
You asked me if residents of Richmond, Virginia, were being asked not to flush during rain storms. I said as far as I know they have not been asked to do so.
I did not say, nor even imply, that you had made anything up.
My apologies; I thought you were referring to my original contention about parts of NYC.
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