madfranks
4th March 2011, 07:44 PM
The whole point of a sewer system is to wash the filth away, but in San Francisco, saving water is more important than washing the poo away.
Link Here (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361896/San-Francisco-spends-14-million-bleach-eco-toilets-cause-stink.html)
San Francisco is paying a high - and smelly -price for promoting eco-friendly low-flow toilets.
Twenty million gallons a year are being saved, but because the small amount of water isn't pushing the waste away fast enough there's a stinky whiff in parts of the city.
Now authorities are set to undermine the toilets' green credentials by flushing $14 million worth of bleach to solve the problem.
Public Utilities Commission spokesman Tyrone Jue admitted that skimping on toilet water had caused more sludge to back up inside the sewer pipes.
It has created a rotten-egg stench near AT&T Park - home to the San Francisco Giants - and other parts of the Bay Area, especially during the summer months.
The city has agreed a three-year deal for concentrated bleach - sodium hypochlorite - to disinfect treated water before it's pumped into San Francisco Bay and to sanitise tap water.
The plan has been condemned by environmentalists Adam Lowry, a chemical engineer and German chemist Michael Braungart.
They blogged:'This is the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to crack an egg.
Link Here (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361896/San-Francisco-spends-14-million-bleach-eco-toilets-cause-stink.html)
San Francisco is paying a high - and smelly -price for promoting eco-friendly low-flow toilets.
Twenty million gallons a year are being saved, but because the small amount of water isn't pushing the waste away fast enough there's a stinky whiff in parts of the city.
Now authorities are set to undermine the toilets' green credentials by flushing $14 million worth of bleach to solve the problem.
Public Utilities Commission spokesman Tyrone Jue admitted that skimping on toilet water had caused more sludge to back up inside the sewer pipes.
It has created a rotten-egg stench near AT&T Park - home to the San Francisco Giants - and other parts of the Bay Area, especially during the summer months.
The city has agreed a three-year deal for concentrated bleach - sodium hypochlorite - to disinfect treated water before it's pumped into San Francisco Bay and to sanitise tap water.
The plan has been condemned by environmentalists Adam Lowry, a chemical engineer and German chemist Michael Braungart.
They blogged:'This is the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to crack an egg.