Fix a Leak Week (March 14 - 20, 2016)

Fix a Leak Week is approaching! This is a great reminder for people to check their household fixtures for leaks. EPA estimates that household leaks can waste more than 1 trillion gallons of water annually nationwide.
Start checking for leaks by reading your water meter. Read your water meter before and after 2-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter changes at all, you probably have a leak.

There was a case in Superior last year where the water meter wasn't read for over a year. When it finally was read, the property owner found out a toilet was running in the basement for about year. Their water and sewage bills were for using close to 800,000 gallons of water in one month!!

Things to check for:

• Dripping faucets and showerheads - ensure tight connections to prevent leaks
• Toilets - over time the rubber part of a toilet flapper decays and may need to be replaced 
• Irrigation systems should be checked each spring before use 
• Outdoor spigots and garden hose

If fixtures need to be replaced, look for WaterSense labeled models.
For more information on Fix a Leak visit these websites:
     Wi DNR Fix a Leak Week
     EPA Fix a Leak

May 19 (Tuesday) program on Water Treatment in Superior (Waste and Drinking Water)

We hope you will attend a program planned for Tuesday, May 19 at 5 p.m. at the Superior Public Library.

Event:   A Closer Look at Water Treatment in Superior, WI
How is it done in Superior?  Drinking Water Treatment and Wastewater Treatment

 We use water everyday.  Water arrives to our homes, schools, and businesses and wastewater will leave from these places.  Attend the approximately one hour program where Superior Water Light & Power will present a closer look at drinking water treatment in Superior and Superior Environmental Services will present about what is done with wastewater to treat it before discharging it back into Superior Bay.   You will also learn about improvements  over the years for better treatment and develop a better understanding on infrastructure in place to have the treatment possible. Finally, you will also take home simple tips on how you can be a part of helping prevent pollution in Lake Superior and conserve water. It would not be a good thing to not have these important services running properly in Superior yet for many decades the services didn’t exist for the early people settling in Superior.   Human health and environmental health are in part connected to proper drinking water treatment and wastewater treatment.  

Any questions?  Call (715)394-0392 or email grethenw@ci.superior.wi.us City of Superior Environmental Services.

 

Have you been to www.superiorstormwater.blogspot.com lately? 

 

Visit our Facebook page or Twitter.  SuperiorESDPW

 

Wastewater Treatment Tours for Superior students in 5th grade start this week

The warmer weather is here and we're eagerly awaiting Superior's 5th graders to come tour the Wastewater Treatment Plant.   We are glad that Four Corners, Cathedral, Lake Superior, Great Lakes, Cooper and Bryant Schools will be coming over the next few weeks.  The tours will last 2 hours and include and indoor portion where the students will act out wastewater treatment and participate in interactive quizzes about the treatment process and the importance of knowing what not to flush and that stormwater, in most cases in Superior, does NOT come here for treatment but rather flows out to local streams untreated.  The outdoor portion is walking through the steps just as the water would flow arriving here, getting cleaned, and then released out to the Superior bay.
The City of Superior pays for the buses to transport the students to the plant.  We are thankful for the teachers who make time in their busy class schedules to have the students come here to learn more about this process.
As the almost 300 students come through and see the wastewater treatment process they will also learn how to help educate others about what not to flush which will help in preventing pollution to the bay and Lake Superior.  The sights (we have a nice location right on the bay) and smells (really not too bad!) are part of getting to know this important process that is at work 24 hours a day.  A team of over 40 people work here : a mix of engineers, operators, collections crew, administration, educators, and other specialists. 


Can you put the following steps in order? 

If you have a small group of people from your organization, church, workplaces or even neighbors that would like to take a tour, give us a call 715/394-0392. 

Solid water? What is Wastewater?

Up to 99% of wastewater can be pure water.  The remaining percent is "total solids."  This is what remains if wastewater is totally dried.

Total solids are classified as either dissolved or suspended solids. Of the suspended solids some are settleable and some are colloidal. Dissolved solids would pass right through filters.  Some are organic and some are inorganic.

 

The organic matter of wastewater typically consists of

proteins (40-60%),

carbohydrates (25-50%) and

fats and oils (8-12%).

 

Wastewater can also include synthetic organic molecules.  Nitrogen and phosphorus arrives via wastewater and can cause aquatic biological activity to increase, which would lower the dissolved oxygen in lakes and rivers.  Micro-organisms in wastewater may cause diseases and that's why disinfection is part of treatment.  Here at the Superior Wastewater Treatment Facility we use UV light to disinfect the water.

Note: We can help prevent stormwater pollution be reducing the solids that enter the storm drains.  Growing native plants greatly reduces the amount of stormwater run-off and holds soil in place.  Washing cars at a carwash lets the dirt from the car do to a special drain to trap dirt particles instead of having those go down storm drains.  These are just a couple examples to help keep Lake Superior clean. 

Common resource

What do all these towns have in common?

Ashland Baraga Beaver Bay Cloquet (as a backup water supply) Duluth Grand Portage Grand Marais L'Anse

Marquette Rossport Silver Bay Sault Ste. Marie Superior Terrace Bay Thunder Bay Two Harbors

All the towns listed withdraw water from Lake Superior as their drinking water supply.

Issues related to bacteria contamination, temporary and persistent pollutants, and too much nutrients entering the system may impact the people's health in these communities.

As a reminder water treatment is completely separate from wastewater treatment.  Not flushing chemicals, medicines, household hazardous waste down the toilet or down a drain greatly reduces the likelihood of the chemicals entering Lake Superior - which is our drinking water source. 

Go to www.ci.superior.wi.us/disposalguide for information on where Superior residents should disposal of unwanted items, such as medicines, used motor oil, and other materials.

A different take on cleaning up water

We just finished giving all of Superior's 5th graders a tour of our wastewater treatment plant. They seemed to enjoy it and we enjoyed having them here. It is important that the next generation understands the water flushed down the toilet or water draining down a sink goes somewhere. Luckily, it comes here, but what if you were to treat all of your own wastewater? Could you do it? The Cedar Grove Cheese factory in Plain, WI does!

Cedar Grove Cheese uses a process called "Living Machine" to naturally clean up all the washwater produced in the cheese-making process. It is a 3-4 day process that uses microbes and hydroponic plants. That is pretty cool, the water that leaves is then cleaner than the water that came in to the factory. It would be pretty interesting if we were to use something similar, but we do process about 1,000 times more water a day than at Cedar Grove. 

On related note . . . did you take a look at Google's homepage image today? The image was created by their "Doodle 4 Google 2014" winner that shows a "transformative water purifier." It is an invention that turns dirty and polluted water into clean water.

World Toilet Day

Did you know that today is World Toilet Day?  This holiday was created to bring awareness to the fact that billions of people do not have access to clean water and proper sanitation.  This leads to illness, death, and less education for women. Let the toilet below explain.

While we're lucky enough to have an abundance of clean water and the technology to clean our wastewater, we shouldn't be complacent.  We need to ensure that we have clean water far into the future, so make use of our water saving tips here or watch our webinar about it here.

-Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards

Illicit Discharge

It sounds a little scary, doesn't it? Illicit discharge IS scary, making it the perfect topic to cover leading up to Halloween.  We're also working on illicit discharge sampling right now so I'm thinking about it pretty often.  Illicit discharges are discharges into the stormwater conveyance system that are not composed entirely of stormwater.  They often contain sediment, nutrients, bacteria and toxic pollutants.  In other words, illicit discharge is anything flowing through storm sewers that isn't rain.

So what makes up illicit discharges? A lot of different things can be illicit discharges. Sanitary wastewater (sewage) can end up in the storm sewer system through cross-connections: when a sanitary sewer is connected to the storm system.  Leaking oil and other fluids from vehicles parked outside can end up in storm drains.  When you wash your vehicle in the driveway, the wash water can go down the storm drain. Grease containers stored outside of restaurants can tip over and spill. Soil can be washed off of construction sites.  There is a list of potential illicit discharges on our website here.
We find illicit discharges in a few different ways.  The first is, as I mentioned previously, sampling.  We determine if there are illicit discharges in our storm sewers by sampling during dry weather.  When it's dry, nothing should be flowing through the storm sewers. We visit the stormwater outfalls (where the water leaves the sewers and enters streams, rivers, and the lake) when it's dry to see if there's anything coming out.  If there is, we take a sample and find out what's in it.  Once we know how much ammonia, potassium, fluoride, and detergent is in the sample, we can determine what kind of discharge it is.  Sometimes, it is tap water or a natural water source.  Other times, it is sanitary wastewater.  When we've figured that out, we try to figure out where it is coming from and eliminate the source.  We don't want illicit discharges because most storm drains in Superior don't lead to the wastewater treatment plant; they go out into the streams, rivers, and lakes without treatment.  We need to make sure the stormwater is as clean as possible so that we're not polluting our water bodies.
The other way that we find illicit discharges is with the help of everyone in Superior. We have an illicit discharge reporting form on our website at www.ci.superior.wi.us/idform. We also have a hotline that anyone can call at any time to let us know about potential stormwater pollution: 715-394-2761. If you see someone's car leaking, piles of pet waste concentrated in one area, litter covering a storm drain, or anything else you think could cause stormwater pollution, err on the side of caution.  Give us a call and we'll look into it! We need everyone to help us out to eliminate illicit discharge.

 For further information about illicit discharge, you can watch the webinar Wendy presented recently here.

-Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards

Don't flush the fat!

It sounds counter-intuitive in a diet crazed world full of quick results diet products.  We're not commenting on those.  We want everyone to stop putting fats, oils, and grease down any household drain.  It can lead to some pretty sticky situations.  Case in point: London made news this week because a 17 ton fat berg was in their sewers.  A fat berg? What is THAT?  (here's the news story, in case you'd like to see the fat berg yourself)

So where do fats, oils, and grease (FOGs) come from?  Well, when you make meat (think bacon), gravy, or sauces or use cooking oils, shortening, lard, butter, margarine, etc, you're using/creating FOGs.

When fats, oils, and grease are put down the sink, they can clog up pipes either in your home or on the way to the wastewater treatment plant.  Even if they are dumped while still hot and in liquid form, they will cool and solidify on their journey to the WWTP.  The garbage disposal won't get rid of them, either.  Once they solidify, they can build up and reduce the amount of water that can flow through the pipes.  Or they can cause a sewer backup...and that is NOT a problem you want.  

If you've cooked things that use/create FOGs, you need to be able to dispose of them somehow.  Anything with fats, oils, or grease should go in the trash instead of the garbage disposal.  It also should not be put into compost bins. FOGs can attract pests and be fairly odorous in a compost bin, so not a great idea.  First of all, any dishes that were used in preparation or cooking should be wiped down without water or a cloth rag.  You should use a paper towel so that it can be discarded; using a cloth rag will just cause problems later on when the rag has to be washed.  Discard the paper towels in the trash. Any remaining food or FOGs on the cooking implements should also be discarded in the trash.  This will prevent the FOGs from becoming an expensive and gross problem for you down the line.

For more information, check out our webinar "Fats, Oils, and Grease Management for the Food Service Industry" on August 21st.  Register here.

-Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards

Let's talk about water!

Things have been pretty busy over here at ESD the last few weeks.  We have a lot going on, but we're gearing up to start doing some more education events again. Check out the list below to see where you can find us.  Stop by and say hi!

Saturday, July 13 8-12: Barkers Island Farmer's Market (learn more here)

Wednesday, July 17 5-8 PM: Fairlawn Ice Cream Social (details here)


Sunday, July 21 11:30-4: Lake Superior Day Celebration at Barkers Island! Celebrate the greatest lake with music, crafts for kids, artwork, and other family friendly activities.  Check it out here.

Tuesday, July 24 2-3 PM: Superior Public Library Summer Series Event. I will be leading an activity to teach kids at the library about the water cycle. They'll also make some crafts to take home so they can remember the water cycle long after!

As always, you can find out what's happening by checking our calendar or visiting our What's Going On? webpage.

Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards

Educational opportunities

Last week, Wendy wrote a post about bringing 5th graders in to tour the wastewater treatment plant (it even made the newspaper).  We offer educational opportunities to groups of all kinds, ages, and sizes.  In addition to wastewater treatment plant tours, we can do presentations about just about anything relating to stormwater, wastewater, or pollution.  We're also always looking for groups to help with storm drain stenciling, which is a fun, outdoor activity designed to remind people that water going down storm drains isn't treated before entering lakes and streams.  Basically, if you can dream it up (and it has to do with water), we can try to make it happen.  We could even do a webinar presentation on a topic if you didn't want one in person.
Another resource is our educational material.  If you want to learn a bit more about water, you can visit the "Educational Material" tab on this blog.  I've uploaded information for adults in addition to fun activities for kids.  If you would like to work with us or want more information about a particular subject, please let us know!  You can call 715-394-0392 and ask for Jillian or Wendy.  Otherwise, send an email to Jillian or Wendy.

-Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards

Flushing Medications Leads to Not so Healthy Waters

Cold and flu season are well underway through much of the United States.  Many people stock up on decongestants, cough syrup, and pain relievers to get through it.  But what should you do after the illness has passed?  Over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, like prescription medications, have expiration dates after which time their safety and potency is no longer guaranteed by the manufacturer.

If your pharmaceuticals (over-the-counter or prescription) have expired or you no longer need a specific medication, you should know a few things about medication disposal.  First of all, you should never flush pharmaceuticals down the toilet. When you take medications, some of the chemicals are absorbed, but you still excrete some.  Wastewater treatment plants are not specifically equipped to remove pharmaceuticals.  If you flush medications, the excreted chemicals and the flushed chemicals together will both be going to the wastewater treatment plant. So, what happens after wastewater is treated?  It’s released into water bodies with medications still present.  Aquatic life is affected by these chemicals.  Synthetic estrogens, for example, are feminizing male fish.  When we draw our drinking water from these same water bodies, we’re ingesting a mix of people’s medications as well. 

Here are some tips for better disposal:                                                                                      

1.       Take your pharmaceuticals to a take-back event or a pharmaceutical drop box.  These have emerged all over the country and are the best way to dispose of your unwanted, unused, or expired medications.  If you don’t know where to find a drop box or take-back event, try contacting your local police department or pharmacy.  Superior residents, the Superior Police Department now has a drop box, open from 8:00 AM-4:30 PM Monday-Friday.  See here for more information.

2.       Follow instructions given on the original medication packaging.  Do not flush the medication unless the packaging specifically instructs you to do so.

3.       If you do not have access to a drop box or take-back event, you should dissolve pills in water.  You should mix liquids with an undesirable substance like kitty litter or coffee grounds.  After mixing them, the medications should go in an opaque, sealed container in the garbage in order to prevent diversion from your garbage.

For more information:

 A Superior Solution to Unwanted Medication

US EPA Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products

FDA- How to Dispose of Unused Medications

-Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards