Blog 6 - - - Reflections - Sludge

Where does your sludge go? Does this surprise you?

The entire concept of waste removal is more or less a hidden operation, just a whole in the ground, there one second gone the other. Watching the waste management movies in class really make everyone realize the large scale operation that needs to take place for society to exist. The sewer system is probably the number one system that is over looked for continence. Based just north of the city of Winnipeg, but still have a connecting to the city grid for waste removal. The waste produced from my area is routed to the Winnipeg north end plant for treatment. To the general public this seems like a good controlled operation and nothing to worry about, other than a slight smell. The truth is that the dual share system, in older Winnipeg isn’t the ideal solution for waste management. Since water and waste water share the same pipes, the treatment plant can become overloaded and forces to dump, unprocessed sewage, directly into the river. While doing this article, I was informed that the rapid melting and increasing flood waters has put enough strain on the system to cause it to purge untreated material for 5 hours this past weekend. Know the impacts of these actions can surprise people initially, but then brush it off as “there enough water in the river to dilute it”, but reality is that the nitrates and phosphors’ are going to have a much large impact downstream. The rate of nitrification taking place in lake Winnipeg is direct proof of the impact of releasing untreated water into the water ways flowing through the city. The lake is becoming a dead zone, impacting the community and the local economy. These large changes happen very quickly, but reversing these effects takes a very long time, up to 40 years with a natural marsh system. People have to be more responsible when dealing with nitrate charged materials, like in lawn care, and the city has to find a better way of dealing with the sewage problem. A year release rate of 15 time is way too high, to decrease the nitrification in lake Winnipeg. The city will have to come together as a whole to find better ways to cut down on water use, and a more efficient way of eliminating bio wastes.