I toured the municipal sewage treatment plant.

G

GoodEnuff

Member
I had read somewhere that if the power grid goes down, it is possible that the sewage may back up into your house. Really? A bathtub or kitchen sink full of your neighbors' sewage? That seems so crazy. My house at that time was on the municipal sewer system, so I put on my tin-foil hat (joke) and arranged for a tour of the local sewage treatment plant. Not kidding.

That was a real learning experience, lol. I don't recommend this if one has a weak stomach. If the municipal system uses pumps, which run on electricity, and the power is out for a length of time, yes, that will happen. The system here doesn't use pumps, it is based on a gravity flow system. The treatment equipment, however, does use pumps; they have a propane powered backup that can run for two weeks without a propane refill. It was a HUGE tank! I asked him what would happen if the backup system failed. He said the holding ponds would overflow and the effluent would overflow downhill. I looked in that downhill direction and thought, "Those people in those houses down there may be surprised to know that."

All the waste goes through several different processes, from one "tank" (open air, btw) to another, then to two pond-like areas, where it is allowed to ferment (or whatever they call it). I asked him where it goes from there. Into a local creek downstream! WHAT? He said it is tested before it is released and that it must meet state standards. People fish from that creek. The water goes into a river where it flows into the Colorado River, which serves municipalities and farms in other states. Arizona and California included.

The man who runs the system (by himself, small town) was so very nice and very surprised that I was there. He said NObody had ever asked to tour the place before. He showed me a map of the system, which included the location of my house and explained everything. I was there for over an hour, maybe two?

I sold that house in town and am now in a rural place where I have my own private septic system.

I am on municipal water, however. Perhaps a tour of that is in order?
 

A friend's basement when I lived in Montana would flood with sewage during very heavy rain. Yep with raw as sewage gets, turds and all. Some cleanup outfit from 200 miles away in Missoula, would come and sanitize his house, and it wasn't cheap. He sued the city, which refused to accept responsibility. After three or four more floodings, he legally forced them to dig up the inadequate sewer line in front of his house and install a bigger drainage.

My small hometown was never interested in sewage services. When I first got there, the entire town's sewage flowed untreated into the river and down to the towns below stream. The State sued the city and told them to install a treatment plant. If they didn't, the State would install it and charge them. Of course the town did nothing, and eventually the State built the plant. How much that cost the city, I don't know. I suspect they came out ahead by using their "do nothing" response.

But they never upgraded the original sewage lines that hauled the turds to the river, which had been there since the early 1900s. People with flooded basements had to hire a lawyer to make them do that.

I lived there because of the nearby wilderness hiking, glaciers, and hunting, which was right outside my door. The town's politics were a disgrace.
 
@GoodEnuff, most people don't think about the what if-s until something happens to them.

We have our own well & septic system. After having them, I have no desire to ever having anything else. As a kid, I thought hand pumps were great on a well. So I had my chance to get one installed & did it just before Y2K ... we've used it several times during power outages to flush toilets & have water for the livestock.
 
When I decided to do this, I walked into the Town Hall and asked the Clerk if it could be done. She had a pretty surprised look on her face but gave me the business card of the municipal employee who was in charge of the plant. I called and left a message, he called me back very quickly. I told them I was doing a research paper (not quite true but..), he gave me directions and the next day I went. Easy to do but again, this is a small town (pop 2200).

A large city may be less accommodating with a possible terrorist attack threat. IDK.

Afterwards, I considered having a gate valve, like the ones in RV's, installed on the sewer line in the crawl space. Never did that; sold the place and moved here. A private septic system was a requirement! I do wish I had a well but that won't happen here. I store water just in case, though, and there is live water on my property, which would have to be treated to make it potable but at least it's water.
 
@GoodEnuff, if your interested for water purification, look at the website for Lehman's Hardware in NE Ohio. This is a link to the Berkey:
Search Results - Lehman's

We bought a Berkey years ago for emergencies before we had a hand pump in case we had to use some water from the pond. After doing some checking on it, this is the brand we decided on. They also have one that I've watched some people on the net put together themselves with food grade buckets & Berkey filters. This is complete kit ( Lehman's Bucket Water Filter ) for a similar one.

There are all kinds of things out there now to purify water, you just have to pick what would work for you best. It doesn't hurt to have more than one way to have water to drink.
 

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