tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post817688345079777272..comments2023-10-14T08:23:14.641-07:00Comments on The American Energy Crisis: The New WealthA Quaker in a Strange Landhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15425198389944137571noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-69698858537932025412010-12-06T08:49:33.200-08:002010-12-06T08:49:33.200-08:00Miloganite!Miloganite!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-10246380004986182952010-12-06T05:32:19.341-08:002010-12-06T05:32:19.341-08:00We get our pumped every other year, never heard of...We get our pumped every other year, never heard of people waiting 5 years, unless you have a huge tank, multiple 1k gal tanks, or the 'family' is 1-2 people only.<br /><br />I usually don't wait more than 1 1/2 year, better safe than sorry--since having the bed go bad, usually costs thousands, and in most areas if your tank/bed is old and you fix it, it means you have to upgrade it to the newest code and pay EPA tax of 1k+. <br /><br />-MeiyoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-37278139109595946792010-12-05T19:11:18.291-08:002010-12-05T19:11:18.291-08:00Doesn’t matter how well the septic system is desig...Doesn’t matter how well the septic system is designed, the leach field is only designed to handle liquids, solids collect in the tank and need to be pumped. A good system used by a single family will probably only need to be pumped once or twice a decade but it will still need to be pumped. There are three ways to find out if it needs to be bumped. <br />A. Inspect it.<br />B. pays someone to inspect it. <br />C. Wait until your septic tank starts leaking at which point your leach field is clogged and needs to be dug up and replaced. <br /><br />When your septic tank starts overflowing it’s C. it is a preventative maintenance issue, sort of like changing the oil in your car. Doesn’t matter how well the car is built, if you don’t change the oil it won’t last long.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04354887108778074009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-3932137653381111472010-12-05T18:17:18.598-08:002010-12-05T18:17:18.598-08:00We have almost 400 ft. of 4ft. wide piping out of ...We have almost 400 ft. of 4ft. wide piping out of our tank. There's a lot of room for it to flow so I'm not too worried about it. Anything could happen but it's engineered pretty good for a regular family.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11538147109007226573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-86936388720069761512010-12-05T18:09:34.028-08:002010-12-05T18:09:34.028-08:00Septic tanks need to be inspected every year or so...Septic tanks need to be inspected every year or so. Just pick a day, skip breakfast, open the top and slowly plunge a stick in until it hits bottom. Then pull it out and look at how deep the sludge is in relation to the depth of the tank. When it’s about half full of sludge it needs pumped or the sludge will clog the leach field. I reckon the sludge is very rich in fertilizer, but personally, I’d just hire a honeypot truck to haul it off.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04354887108778074009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-90465751899711059242010-12-05T14:51:42.952-08:002010-12-05T14:51:42.952-08:00Bill:
We are putting a raised bed vegetable garde...Bill:<br /><br />We are putting a raised bed vegetable garden on top of the leach field for our septic system... talk about recycling...<br /><br />Corn, potatoes, and beans will stay where they are - adjacent to the hog yard so that we can let them out at the end of the season and clean up... over time one develops systems that work best with what ya got... I think...A Quaker in a Strange Landhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15425198389944137571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-55371016260861072162010-12-05T13:20:51.001-08:002010-12-05T13:20:51.001-08:00Thank goodness for septic tanks. I just have to ha...Thank goodness for septic tanks. I just have to have enough water to flush.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11538147109007226573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-89690938360813518602010-12-05T13:09:29.418-08:002010-12-05T13:09:29.418-08:00Stephan, to my mind it is ALL about waste...
Rati...Stephan, to my mind it is ALL about waste...<br /><br />Rational: In 1971 Seoul was not a mega city... and yes, humans can adapt. So can cholera, disentry , typhoid, etl al...<br /><br />Outbreaks of disease due to a lack of sanitation was very much the norm in pre-industrial Europe, and I would argue THE limiting factor in city size...<br /><br />but I could be wrong... maybe Americans WILL adapt to hauling tons of "night soil" and after a dozen generation of natural selection have become inured to these diseases.A Quaker in a Strange Landhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15425198389944137571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-77562730408370529822010-12-05T12:37:00.662-08:002010-12-05T12:37:00.662-08:00The issue of human waste in cities makes me think ...The issue of human waste in cities makes me think of the honey bucket man, an east Asian icon, who came around and emptied the toilets in the extremely densely populated section of Seoul, South Korea where I had an off post room in 1971. No vehicle, just two open buckets and a yoke. You squeezed against the wall to let him pass in the narrow alleys. All headed for the rice fields.<br />Or ten story walkup housing blocks with one water tap and toilet in the hall on each floor and no central heating.<br />Americans just don't remember.<br />Humans can be pretty adaptable when they have to.<br />Rational LiberalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-54252199101811557162010-12-05T10:03:56.961-08:002010-12-05T10:03:56.961-08:00Good NYT article on the problems facing local &...Good NYT article on the problems facing local & state governments in the US:<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/us/politics/05states.html?_r=1&hp<br />Mounting State Debts Stoke Fears of a Looming Crisiswestexashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13648669299354997219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-20904084172651538902010-12-05T09:25:26.306-08:002010-12-05T09:25:26.306-08:00continued from above...
Boston's main water s...continued from above...<br /><br />Boston's main water system is gravity driven happily, though there are powerful, electrically driven pumping stations to boost pressure to some higher places in the city and the inner suburbs. Most of the waste flows by gravity to a large sewage treatment plant on an island in Boston Harbor, though there are vital sewage pumping stations throughout eastern MA that pump effluent up hill, out of low lying neighborhoods to get to the gravity mains. (Come to think of it, sewage probably depends on these scattered pumping stations more than the potable water does. but still gravity does a good deal of the transport. Too bad for the neighborhoods in holes.) Once it gets to Deer Island, however, truly huge amounts of electricity run the sewage treatment plant itself, the digesters, the settling tanks, aerators, and so on. Failing that, the plant defaults to dumping the sewage raw into the ocean, which might be what happens in the future, unfortunately.<br /><br />Cities that require power for water pumping (some aqueduct systems in the West come to mind) might be SOOL. Cities increasingly dependent on desalinization plants....??? Ah, Hahahahahah! (Sorry.)<br /><br />Where we draw the line on population? 50,000? 500,000? It depends on climate, topography, and a bunch of other factors. Some cities of half a million might still work in some places. In others (Las Vegas???) I'd imagine even 100K would be a real stretch.Stephen B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00746137367376861899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99704500378481622.post-34347258632967950792010-12-05T09:23:50.754-08:002010-12-05T09:23:50.754-08:00Whether cities continue to work or not seems to me...Whether cities continue to work or not seems to me, to be a function of size, among other things. (I know, Duh.) A truly large city, geographically, and with regards to population size, just won't work as you point out. The food just has to come from too far, the waste has to be carried too far. Now some would say that cities can grow some food within the city and massively recycle, and to a degree that is true of a rather diffuse city, but that only will work, if at all, in a fairly warm location where composting and food production can go on more or less year round (I'm thinking of all that I've read and heard about Havana, post-USSR oil.)<br /><br />Here in eastern MA, in some ways, Boston could work a bit like it used to 100 years ago IF we still had farms much of anywhere in the area, but we don't. For some reason, Boston has much less working farm land left around it, say within 100 miles of it, than does even Newark, NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh, etc, etc. Just looking at online satellite composite photos proves this. It may be that the soil in eastern MA is worse than it is surrounding those other metropolises. It's interesting to note, however, that one of MA's most prosperous, non-agricultural counties, Middlesex County, was a top-ten US county in terms of $ AG production as late as 1918, sorry soil or not. In any case, Boston didn't really grow "large" until railroads were developed in the mid 1800s to bring food and other ag products to the city. Then it took off, so I suppose that since most all of those RRs are still in place, some of the old commerce flows could be recreated. Still, Boston cannot move the goods in or out on a scale that would allow the present population and density to continue me thinks. (Long term, I just don't see roads moving stuff long distance any more as I think cheap pavement, available in the copious amounts we require just to keep ahead of road decay, won't be available in the future. I don't think semi trailer units will run well on batteries, $12 diesel, natural gas, if the latter two are even available at all.)<br /><br />continued....Stephen B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00746137367376861899noreply@blogger.com