Mistakes can and do happen ...
From SIGNONSANDIEGO NEWS SERVICES
3.5 million gallons of treated wastewater spills
January 27, 2006
SAN DIEGO – Broken valves caused the discharge into San Diego's storm drain system of about 3.5 million gallons of reclaimed water, which may have ended up in the Los Penasquitos Lagoon, city officials said Friday.
The spill likely started on Monday due to problems with three pressure release valves in Scripps Ranch that are part of the city's water reclamation system, according to Mayor Jerry Sanders' office.
Water Department officials believe the problem began after recycled water system pump motors were restarted, according to the mayor's office.
The spill was noticed after the city of Poway, which buys reclaimed water from San Diego for irrigation purposes, notified the Water Department that it wasn't getting the amount it should have been receiving. [So they noticed it before the authorities responsible for the water did!]
The Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego County Department of Environmental Health, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Game are working to determine the impact of the spill, according to Sanders' office.
Repairs on the pressure release valves, located near Scripps Westview and Scripps Lake Drive, are under way.
Reclaimed water is wastewater that has been treated and is commonly used to irrigate golf courses, parks and roadsides.
See - Note to TCC - mistakes do happen.
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 4:33 PM
2 Comments:
Slightly off topic but it's not just the water sector that is in crisis - Qld health goes from bad to worse.
Beattie can't get it right.
Hospital turns away patients from the bush
Courier Mail
28jan06
TOOWOOMBA Hospital could not accept patients transferred from country hospitals for two days this week because it had no beds left.
And the hospital may have to cancel all elective orthopedic surgery for the next two weeks unless a specialist can be found.
The crisis at Toowoomba erupted as Caboolture Hospital's emergency department remained only partially opened and Premier Peter Beattie defended a policy of using fire officers to cover for busy paramedics and ambulances.
Toowoomba's 183-bed hospital is the main health facility for Queensland's southwest and usually operates with 164 beds. It services 30 smaller hospitals from Gatton west to Thargomindah. These refer about four patients each day to Toowoomba Hospital.
However, even after opening an extra 20 beds this week, Toowoomba Hospital could not cope with the high demand.
Despite the problems, the hospital was still accepting emergency cases and all maternity patients from outlying centres were being admitted.
"Emergency cases are always accepted. The ambulance knows they can bring people here," Toowoomba Health Service district manager Chris Thorburn said yesterday. "There is full senior staffing on all emergency department shifts and we have put on additional nursing staff and additional administration staff."
Ms Thorburn said Queensland Health was instructed that Toowoomba Hospital was on bypass on Tuesday and Wednesday because it had no beds available for patients being transferred.
"The hospital has been put on bypass more frequently in recent times but it was unusual for it to be on bypass for two days running," she said.
"It's a reflection of how busy the whole health system is."
Toowoomba South state MP Mike Horan said the hospital serviced one of the biggest regions in the state and it was a tragedy if it was put on bypass.
Chinchilla Hospital medical officer Damien Niven, who has worked in the town 300km west of Brisbane for nine years, said Toowoomba sometimes turned away emergency cases and rural doctors had to find places for patients in Brisbane hospitals.
Dr Niven warned the shortage of beds would get worse.
"It won't be long before it's common for emergencies to be turned away from Toowoomba," he said.
Mr Beattie yesterday defended changing his 1997 view when he condemned the use of firefighters to treat medical cases.
"We've had almost 10 years of practice . . . and that's enough to change anybody's mind," he said.
But Opposition emergency services spokesman Ted Malone asked where the Government's $100 million-a-year ambulance levy was going if firefighters were required to do the work of ambulance officers.
"Our health system is in absolute chaos and now it's clear our ambulance service is not coping despite Peter Beattie's ambulance tax," he said.
The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service said yesterday it responded to less than 1 per cent of all ambulance emergency calls and only when the demand stopped ambulances from getting there in time.
4:57 PM, January 28, 2006
Mistakes happen in everything that people do.
Humans have a million years of experience drinking untreated water. Australians are not ready for water born diseases .. but they are present anyway.
I agree that recycled water should be solely for industry use. I also think that we need to move from Dams to acquifers .. Desalination and recycling..
8:29 PM, January 28, 2006
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