Rex makes a visit at the Cause for Paws event

Rex made an appearance this month at the Cause for Paws event.  If you'd like Rex to visit an event let us know.  Rex reminds people to Scoop the Poop.  Speaking of Scoop the Poop we hope you will attend our Protect Our Waters Fun Fair on October 6.  One of the game stations will be on Scooping the Poop  (Fake poop - no smell ...).  Erica from the front office will be running the station. 

Way to go to the Douglas County Humane Society.  Raising funds for finding homes for homeless pets.  A much-needed new shelter is on its way to being built off Highway 2 near the east entrance to Superior. 

October 6 - Early announcement for the Protect Our Waters Fun Fair

Microplastics in Oceans and the Great Lakes Presentation

We invite you to attend a presentation by local researcher  Dr. Lorena Rios Mendoza, UWS professor.

Microplastics in Oceans and the Great Lakes

Sept 17
6:30 p.m.
Superior Public Library

Sept 18 (Thursday) film showing of Waterlife - the epic journey of water

Come watch the full length film showing of Waterlife - the epic journey of water on Thursday, Sept 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Superior Public Library. This is part of National Pollution Prevention Week.

Keep grass clippings in check

Mowing the lawn is part of urban life around here. And the product of mowing? Grass clippings!! Often times grass clippings are left on the lawn, which is the preferred “disposal” method (grass clippings equal one application of nitrogen per year, reducing fertilizer needs). But, some of the excessive clippings inevitably find their way onto impervious surfaces such as driveways, sidewalks and streets. When a rain storm hits, all those clippings will travel to a storm drain and will result in something that looks like this:

To avoid your neighbors calling the authorities wondering what that creepy green stuff that is polluting the waters and killing the fish, sweep up your clippings! Grass clippings have nutrients that contribute to algae growth and eutrophication of water bodies. Thus, leaving your grass clippings on driveways, sidewalks, etc. for the rain to carry it away is just like pouring fertilizer directly into the water.

Don’t do it! 

Compost those clippings!

Structural Soil & North Tower Ave project

Last week one part of the bus tour we hosted was a drive along the newly reconstructed North Tower Ave.

Here is a closer look at what was planted there:
Common Hackberry
Discovery Elm
Harvest Gold Linden
Ivory Silk Lilac Tree
Honey Locust
Northwood Maple

Alpine Spirea
Dakota Spirea
Little Prince Spirea
Prairie petite lilac

Blue forest Juniper
Valley Cushion Pine

Feather reed grass
Prairie Dropseed

Together over 2000 plants were planted on the stretch of road north of Belknap.

To better ensure the survivability of the trees and plants a water system is in place and also structural soil developed at Cornell that uses Hydrogel has been used.  Here is a link to learn more about the special soil that keeps spaces open (reduced compaction potential) so that water can be more available to trees.

http://www.hort.cornell.edu/uhi/outreach/csc/article.html

Belknap Street Project is coming next.

Weed Walks & Talk on Aug 23

Identify weeds in your yard and community.  Three walks will be held on Saturday, Aug 23 to identify weeds in our area.  The walks will begin at 9, 10 and 11 a.m. at the City of Superior Environmental Services website at the Farmers Market.  The Farmers Market will be at the Superior Public Library rather than Barkers Island due to the Dragon Boat event. 

At Noon, you're invited to attend an indoor event on weed identification in the small classroom at the Superior Public Library.  
Learn about better identifying what is in your yard and garden and what to do about them. 

Thoughts on stormwater in Superior . . .

We had an informal survey during the ReGrand opening festivities of North Tower Ave. about stormwater beliefs. There were 3 statements that respondents rated as strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree. The statements were:


           (1) Reducing stormwater runoff is important to me
           (2) I would like to see more green infrastructure around Superior
           (3) Stormwater pollution is a problem in Superior

For the first statement (Reducing stormwater runoff is important to me), 50 of the 60 respondents (83%) strongly agreed to the statement while the remaining 10 somewhat agreed. No one disagreed.

For the second statement (I would like to see more green infrastructure around Superior) 81% strongly agreed to the statement, 14% somewhat agreed and the remaining 5% somewhat disagreed with the statement. No one strongly disagreed.

The third statement (Stormwater pollution is a problem in Superior) had the most variable responses. 48% strongly agreed to the statement, 41% somewhat agreed, 9% somewhat disagreed and one person strongly disagreed with the statement that stormwater pollution is problem. 

Nearly all of the 60 respondents happened to be Superior residents.

How do you think you would respond to the 3 statements? Do you think responses will vary before and after a rain storm? Send us a comment!

Training & Safety

This week the Superior Fire Department has been coming here to the Superior Wastewater Treatment Plant to learn about the treatment process and get a feel for the layout of the assorted campus of buildings here to be better able to respond quickly if a problem would arise.  We are definitely not just one building.  In order to clean the incoming wastewater
 
Being prepared can help in safety at our workplace and our homes.  Our local environment and water quality depends on people who are prepared and act appropriately to dispose of unwanted materials properly. 

Head to our Disposal Guide page www.ci.superior.wi.us/disposalguide for learning where items should be brought.  The hazardous material are often recycled.  Mercury should never go to the landfill.  Mercury, lead and other metals can be recycled. 

Wastewater Treatment - What is involved?

This morning was our annual August public wastewater treatment tour.  Six community members came to learn and walk through the steps as the wastewater continues on its path through the plants being cleaned before being discharged to Superior Bay of Lake Superior.  Coming on a tour is a great way to learn about the steps and you will understand more why certain things should not be flushed.  Keeping 'stuff' from coming here in the first place can make a difference in local water quality.

We have extension construction going on here but we made it safely around to stop at each of the steps.  The Belt Filter Press was even operating.  That's one of my favorite stops.  It the final step for the solids and follows anaerobic digestion in the digesters.   Dewatering is done via pressing to reduce water so fewer trucks are needed to haul the end sludge away to the landfill. 

I've made up a short quiz about wastewater treatment here and I encourage you to take it and see how you do.  You can find it under the Quiz tab in the blog. 
It should less than 5 minutes.  See how you do.