Low Flow Toilets Equals No-Flow Sewers In San Francisco

http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=3544 ^ | William M Briggs

[mattstat]

If you’re an environmentalist, particularly a San Francisco version of that creature (one of the most virulent of the breed), it must have come as quite a shock for you to learn that your muck stinks just as bad as a Rush Limbaugh fan’s output. The stench from the sewers in that earth-loving city has become overwhelming, “especially during the dry summer months.”

Why? The low-flow toilets insisted upon (by force of law) by enlightened legislators are not saving the San Francisco environment as the science said they would. According to SF Gate, the near water-free commodes have forced city engineers to mix in 27 million pounds of “highly concentrated sodium hypochlorite” with the sewage “before it’s dumped into the bay.”

The Doctrine of Unintended Consequences struck with force when it was discovered that the water which relocated the acts of Congress from toilets was also necessary to shift the Congressional output through the sewer system! Who knew!

Instead of a laminar movement of muck found with the old toilets, low-flow toilets caused stagnation. The acts of Congress left the homes of the benevolent, but when they plopped dry into the sewer, there they sat, festering and bubbling and turning into a giant petri dish. And they stank.

And still stink, hence the plan for dumpling concentrated bleach into the sewers to make up for the lost water. Some of the bleach must also be used to kill critters in the drinking water, too.

In what must be a fascinating sociological experiment, the very forces of benevolence which created the demand for low-flow toilets is now pressuring politicians to eschew chemicals. “Don’t Bleach Our Bay!” is the new environmentalist cry. Activists are claiming that the bleach will cause an “environmental disaster” and is thus not “planet-friendly.” They suggest—I kid you not—using Oxyclean, or it’s sewer equivalent, to scrub clean their effluvia.

[EricT.]

Why don’t they just flush the lines out with sea water?

It’s not like it’s hard to find or limited in supply.

[mattstat]

I left out the Dave Berry quote on low-flow toilets:

“They work fine for one type of bodily function, which, in the interest of decency, I will refer to here only by the euphemistic term ‘No. 1.’ But many of the new toilets do a very poor job of handling “acts of Congress,” if you get my drift.”

[ThunderSleeps]

...claiming that the bleach will cause an “environmental disaster”...

If they want to see the real environmental disaster all they have to do is look in the mirror. This is 100% on them. When will these liberal fools learn, when will they finally get it through their thick idealistic skulls that Man is flawed and imperfect. We will, in spite of the best of intentions, screw things up. So the less they try to do, the better.

[Le Chien Rouge]

Because of the low-flow toilet issues,the left will demand:

1) a government agency to limit the number of bowel movements per day a citizen can have. Gays,the homeless and minorities will be exempt.

2) Demand that diets are adjusted to enhance ‘one a day bowel movements’ program

3) Demand that citizens start recycling all bowel movements.

[swatbuznik]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[mattstat]

Oxyclean is bleach, but they want it for its “oxygenating” powers.

[Psycho_Bunny]

My apartment building was built in the 50's. I have one of those tankless toilets you'd typically find in schools or older airports.

I'm pretty sure I could flush an adult cat down it.

I'm a little apprehensive about moving somewhere else and getting stuck with a low-flow. lol

[Ditter]

As you are probably aware, ladies use paper even for No 1. That is the small piece of paper that takes sometimes 3 flushes to get rid of.

[MsLady]

I look at it this way. There are some area's that are water starved in this country. But, most are not. All water goes into the ground or rivers streams, ect, and get's evaporated and comes back as rain. We don't lose any water, EVER. The only thing we need to be careful of is polluting the water we use.

I can't tell you how many extra times I've had to flush that stupid toilet. I think it's 2.5 gallons and the old ones were 5, I think. So for the many times I've flushed that low water toilet, I could have saved a ton of water. The more the government tries to save the planet, the more they are hurting it. This is what happens when congress has to much power and to much time on their hands. They think up ways to spend more of our money, make our lives more miserable, while making themselves feel useful.

[Thermalseeker]

Atlanta’s population outran the capacity of the city’s sewer system about 15 years ago. They’ve been dumping raw sewage into the Chattahoochee river for years (and paying a hefty EPA fine). There is a large underground project underway to take some of the load (no pun intended) off the system.

[Caipirabob]

Why can’t they just pump sea water into the sewAge system at critical points to get the flow started? It’s cheap and abundant, and the salt has antiseptic properties.

[exDemMom]

I wonder what the properties of bleach are that they object to? Or is their objection born out of pure ignorance?

Bleach is a commonly used antimicrobial agent. It kills most bacteria and viruses, and has a very short half-life, meaning that it decomposes so fast that there are no regulations about pouring it directly down the sink. Its decomposition by-products are salt and oxygen.

I do not know that an oxygen “bleach” has those properties. How long does it take to decompose? What are its decomposition products? Does it even kill bacteria or viruses? Does it have the ability to break down a variety of organic molecules the way bleach does? I’m afraid that the use of Oxyclean might make the liberal dunces happy for a short while, but might not do the job, and could create a huge pollution problem in the bay.

[Marty62]

but they want it for its “oxygenating” powers

uh huh. and what effects will that habe on the ecology of the BAY.

You see this is the problem with ecowhackos, they NEVER look at the unintended consequences of their actions. It’s always, “my hairbrain scheme is perfect and don’t question it’s validity”. Then when the UC show up, they come up with yet ANOTHER hairbrain scheme.

[Gen.Blather]

“I believe the job will take much more oxygen bleach than chlorine bleach.”

The good thing about the oxygen bleach is that it won’t change the color.

[Babalu]

Ahem ... that would be LibTURDS!

[Arrowhead1952]

Unintended consequences?

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[Roccus]

SF has sewage treatment plants. However, using chlorine bleach to flush the system will kill the aerobic bacteria in the treatment plants thereby making the plants useless except for straining out large solids and grease. Without aerobic bacteria, a lot more sludge will be produced and will need disposal.
Oxiclean will help promote aerobic bacterial growth which breaks down sewage. The drawback is that it will have to be added at continuous intervals and then there is the cost involved in both the Oxiclean AND the large amounts of water that will be needed to flush the system.

As to using sea water to flush the system, I can only offer SWAG that it too will kill the aerobic bacteria due to osmotic pressure on the cell walls.....again, this is ONLY a guess.

[Hoboken]

Wow, you really know your s____

[Roccus]

}:^)

This is just stuff I gleaned from investigating how my own waste treatment system works. I have a very high water table and can't use a septic tank. Buried in my backyard is basically a small version of what cities use, but instead of oxygenating my waste water the way a city plant does, I use an aerator.

[dfwgator]

The percentage of water used by toilets, even before the lo-flo scam was minuscule, compared to usage from showers and lawn watering, and dishwashing.