The Poop Factory - Recap & Pics
September 10th, 2007 by Kishore
Down to a Science’s first field trip was a resounding (and smelly) success.
Courtesy Tony, here’s a brief recap:
I took a tour of one of SF’s 2 water treatment plants this morning. This one only deals with 15% of the sewage while the other one handles the rest. When sewage first enters the plant, the large inorganic debris are removed before anaerobic bacteria are added to the sewage in a large egg-shaped tank. Then the sewage is passed through an enormous tank that uses gravity to separate the heavy solid waste and light scum from the water. Finally, the water is aerated to help the bacteria break down various toxins before they are extracted from it and returned to the egg-shaped tank for reuse. Unlike every other water treatment plant in the bay area, this one does not subject the water to a 3rd cleansing stage because it is dumped 4 miles off the coast instead of into the bay.
Most interesting fact learned on tour: the single largest spike in sewage production occurs every year during the half-time break for the super bowl; they refer to it as “Super-bowl surge”.
Below are some additional pics:
Category: General, Water | 1 Comment »