Posts Tagged ‘wastewater treatment’
Reflections on the Work of Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak (1943-2023)
Imagine this… You’re six years old. Happy, healthy, active and curious about everything around you. Everyday, a woman comes to your house to clean the toilet. Your grandmother has told you not to touch her. You notice that when this woman leaves, your grandmother sprinkles the pure water of the Ganges river where the woman…
Read MoreDo Americans enjoy the Human Right to Water and Sanitation?
January 23, 2019 In a recent segment on NPR affiliate KLCC, Oregon journalist Denise Silfee points out that the UN General Assembly affirmed the human right to water and sanitation in 2010 while the United States failed to join the majority of nations voting for the resolution. In her interview with people sheltering in a…
Read MoreEmergency Sanitation Recommendations for Hurricane Florence
Hurricane Florence is upon us. She is predicted to bring excessive rainfall (over 2 feet) and dangerous storm surge (up to 9-12 feet) to North and South Carolina. While some are rejoicing that wind speeds have been downgraded, NWS continues to predict life-threatening storm surge and unprecedented rainfall. As an organization focused on safe sanitation…
Read MoreNew documentary breaks taboos to explore America’s wastewater infrastructure
Documentary filmmaker Karina Mangu-Ward is going to make a splash with FLUSH, which premieres worldwide on November 15th, 2017. Mangu-Ward’s images are captivating, the editing is excellent, and the film features some of North America’s most important sanitation heroes. It will change the way you think about poop. We here at the other PHLUSH (Public Hygiene Lets Us…
Read MoreA Call for More Comprehensive Disaster Sanitation Preparedness
All citizens who pee and poop, that’s everyone, need to know how to safely take care of toileting when the luxury of a ‘flush and forget’ mentality is no longer an option. Natural disasters, such as recent Hurricanes Irma, Harvey and Maria, alter our world in unpredictable ways. One thing that we can anticipate is…
Read MoreFacing Facts: A Critique of Legacy Wastewater Treatment Systems
Hearings in the Vermont House of Representatives earlier this month give a penetrating and carefully documented look into the issues we are researching at PHLUSH. House Bill 375, sponsored by Representative Teo Zagar seeks to expand and incentivize the use of ecological toilets and greywater systems. Now that much of the extensive testimony organized by…
Read MoreEnacting Awareness: Water, Waste, and Public Space
With last Friday’s whimsical 5K walk, activists at the University of California at Santa Cruz focused attention on often-evaded issues. “Slugs to Sludge” was created as a playful way to raise awareness of sewage infrastructure and the water it requires, and to advocate for action on ecological sanitation at UCSC and beyond. With the average…
Read MoreReflect Before You Flush
This guest blog post is by John Gonzalez from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District for World Toilet Day 2013. Please check out our ToiletsUSA page for more info. Follow #ToiletsUSA, #LiftTheLid, and #CelebrateTheToilet. Your ability to “flush and forget” is taken for granted. Period. In the US, access to proper and efficient sanitation does not represent the…
Read MoreWhere does it all go? Sanitation tours provide answers.
Where does it all go after we flush? How does it all get managed? How come we know so little about how wastewater treatment systems work? These are the questions that led us to organize our 2011-12 series of expert-led tours of sanitation facilities. As citizens, we need some understanding of essential infrastructure to influence…
Read MoreVisit to the nation’s 1st wastewater facility producing struvite commercially
On April 13, plant operator Brett Laney led four of us on a long-awaited tour of the Durham Wastewater Treatment Plant. The facility sits on an attractive campus – a former dairy farm, today bordered by schools and apartment complexes – and even features a new Influent Pump Station with LEED silver certification. It’s located in the…
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