Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: OB1kNOb

I wouldn’t count on their getting a clue.

True Story:

I lived in Santa Barbara in the early 90’s during that “desperate” drought. No lawn watering. Water rates tripled to force conservation. We turned off the shower while lathering and no running the faucet while brushing your teeth. Car wash...ha!

Then the gubmint do-gooders really got involved. They offered free low-flow toilets to all takers. Typically, it didn’t occur to them that apartment owners would take advantage. Every multi-family rental and apartment complex had “mountains” of old toilets piled up. The costs soared. And it caused a landfill crisis trying to find room for all that porcelain...not to mention the hauling fees to collect them.

This went on for about 2 years. And then one day we woke up to an enormous photo on the front page of the morning paper. It showed firemen, in the dark of night, aiming their hoses down a manhole. Turns out all those low-flows didn’t produce enough effluent to move the, er, “solids” through the sewer system. So the city had been sending firemen out every night to add water to the sewers...water WE had been conserving!

Gubmint. Ain’t good for nuthin’.


20 posted on 08/19/2008 1:51:28 PM PDT by Timeout (The Brits have their royal family. We have our privileged "public servant" class.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies ]


To: Timeout

Wow. Makes me feel better about living in the sticks and having my own personal water source. I bet that made you appreciate home (AL) alot more.


23 posted on 08/19/2008 1:58:36 PM PDT by OB1kNOb (Choosing between McInsane and Obamapalooza is like choosing to ingest a slow or fast-acting poison.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies ]

To: Timeout

That’s a really great gub story. Presumably the firemen aren’t hosing down the sewers these days— what’s pushing the solids along, now?


31 posted on 08/19/2008 2:11:15 PM PDT by agooga (Struggling every day to be worthy of their sacrifice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies ]

To: Timeout
Gubmint. Ain’t good for nuthin’.

Well, during that water shortage in Santa Barbara, our local branch was good for a bit of humor. Who could ever forget our dignified elderly lady mayor standing before the TV cameras and intoning the City's instructions for toilet usage: "If it's yellow, it's mellow. If it's brown, flush it down."

BTW, remember the desal plant they built, used for about 2 months and then shut down, eventually selling most of the parts? Now the City's planning to spend $122K to find out how much it would cost to make it work again. My tax dollars at work.

33 posted on 08/19/2008 2:15:08 PM PDT by dorothy ( “Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason.” —Benjamin Franklin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson