The Eco Police

[Californiaman]

have started monitoring your sewers.

Really, my neighbor drained the kiddy pool a couple of weeks ago.

It had a tad bit too much chlorine in it when she sent it down the drain.

A couple days later the water police showed up at her door to inform her she can't drain her pool into the gutter anymore.

 

On a side not:

During the 80s and early 90s the police in Los Angeles had the sewer water tested in suspected high use drug neighborhoods in order to find out which houses were using cocaine. Then they'd watch, get a warrant and go arrest the homeowners. Yeah, how about that?

[Riverside]

How much is too much Chlorine? Isn''t pool chlorine (Muriatic acid) like bleach - except more concentrated? I'm not sure I want my neighbors dumping that in front of my house...

 

Don't coke users go to some length to conceal their usage? Should they get a pass for dumping it in the sewer?

 

 

I don't know - as it is, I have to make a 70 mile round trip to properly dispose of old paint.

[Corrosion of conformity]

I don't get it.

 

What's the problem?

[Murph]

I hope they test mine.

 

[EVOL!]

Here is a simple solution - dump the pool water down your sink and *not* the storm sewer. You see, the stuff you dump down your drain goes to a treatment plant where they filter the water and clean it. Your storm sewer, if it is anything like Chicago's, goes right into streams, lakes, and oceans. I think our waterways get hammered enough as it is.

[jaxson50]

Here is a simple solution - dump the pool water down your sink and *not* the storm sewer. You see' date=' the stuff you dump down your drain goes to a treatment plant where they filter the water and clean it. Your storm sewer, if it is anything like Chicago's, goes right into streams, lakes, and oceans. I think our waterways get hammered enough as it is.[/quote']

 

How do you drain a pool down the sink?

You can't drain pool water onto the lawn because it can contaminate the ground water, you can't send it down the gutter because it will get into rivers and streams. Maybe it's time to have some building regulation forcing builders to place a drain pipe connected to the system that will be treated.

[Murph]

Maybe it's time to have some building regulation forcing builders to place a drain pipe connected to the system that will be treated.

 

That's what we need.

 

More regulations.......

 

[Riverside]

How do you drain a pool down the sink?

 

With a hose.

 

Do you really want more laws?

[heymisterk]

I am for anything that makes water cleaner. Sorry. I live on Lake Erie, so my reasons should be obvious.

[Murph]

I live on Lake Erie' date=' so my reasons should be obvious.[/quote']

 

You should have seen it in the '60s........

 

[jaxson50]

I remember when rivers caught fire, and a few regulations changed that, we no longer catch fried fish.

Building codes will not harm the market, they bring forth innovation. A few years ago appliances used more energy than they do now, because of regulations they are better and cheaper to use. Automobiles are safer today because of regulations.

Not the same as laws restricting behavior.

[Riverside]

Great.

 

Force builders to change everything they build from here on out because a few nimrods can't figure out how to siphon their pool into a drain.

 

Sounds efficient, not to mention highly logical, to me.

[heymisterk]

I don't know. I used to live next door to a guy who would dump his used motor oil down the sewer. He didn't stop - wouldn't have stopped, I gather - until the cops caught him and wrote him a ticket. My point is, if there weren't a law about this, this Mensa member would have continued what he was doing.

 

A lot of times, people are extra-scared about government regulation ruining their way of life, but have little idea of how to stop people from ruining the planet. Many times, there answer is something like, "Oh, we will be just fine; people are alarmists."

 

And that scares me.

[TommyK]

If it had chlorine in it, it wasn't a 'kiddie' pool. This thing probably had a filter and pump. We're talking thousands of gallons or so, depending on how big and deep the pool is. If the concentration of chlorine is high enough, it will kill the lawn, possibly the back yard trees. She pushed her problem off on to the municipal sewer treatment plant, i.e. her neighbors. She's lucky they didn't fine her.

 

Given enough time, the chlorine will eventually evaporate and routing the drainage to the city sewer would probably be okay. The city, probably, would help her determine the right time.

 

There is some local concern about some, allegedly, hermaphroditic aquatic life in a local stream. They blame a local packing plant, whom, by the way they wanted to shut down for vegan reasons. In a local papers blog on the subject I reminded them that estrogen isn't used to a great extent in agriculture and when it is used has to be with drawn well enough before slaughter to keep it out of the meat. I also suggested that IF the report of odd aquatic life were true and that estrogen in the stream were the culprit, they should look further down stream to the high-rise dormitories parked along side that stream as a possible source of the environmental estrogen.

[jaxson50]

Your right, why have any building codes, heck I love the taste of lead paint, don't you? And why what's wrong with building house's on a corner stone instead of a foundation, and don't get me started on those terrible electrical codes....the good old days....When sewage ran down the streets....

[Mr. Robot]

Same the world over - at least in developed countries.

 

The Nazis in my council slapped a seal on my recycle bin saying they would not collect it because it contained, wait for it - PLASTIC BAGS - (for the world - this was the City of Manningham - Melbourne, Australia)

 

I was surprised that they had the time to go through my recycle bin - given they are always crying poor.

 

I was even more surprised that plastic bags were considered a contaminant in a recycle bin.

 

When I complained, they admitted that plastic bags were recyclable, however they damaged their machines.

 

In other words, they purchased the wrong recycle equipment - NOT MY PROBLEM

 

I then asked them - should I then put it in general waste disposal? - Answer - YES

 

I then asked them - isnt it environmentally unsound to put plastic bags into Land Fill - Answer - 'where did I get that idea from?"

 

Clearly my local (read City) government waste dept needs some education on land fill and plastic bags.

 

I had the last laugh though. I rang up my local trash talk back radio station and it is all over the press now- they are now trying to defend the logic of their policies.

[jaxson50]

Same the world over - at least in developed countries.

 

The Nazis in my council slapped a seal on my recycle bin saying they would not collect it because it contained' date=' wait for it - PLASTIC BAGS - (for the world - this was the City of Manningham - Melbourne, Australia)

 

I was surprised that they had the time to go through my recycle bin - given they are always crying poor.

 

I was even more surprised that plastic bags were considered a contaminant in a recycle bin.

 

When I complained, they admitted that plastic bags were recyclable, however they damaged their machines.

 

In other words, they purchased the wrong recycle equipment - NOT MY PROBLEM

 

I then asked them - should I then put it in general waste disposal? - Answer - YES

 

I then asked them - isnt it environmentally unsound to put plastic bags into Land Fill - Answer - 'where did I get that idea from?"

 

Clearly my local (read City) government waste dept needs some education on land fill and plastic bags.

 

I had the last laugh though. I rang up my local trash talk back radio station and it is all over the press now- they are now trying to defend the logic of their policies.[/quote']

 

I know what you mean, they just gave us a huge recycle bin on wheels, and a list of rules that won't fit in it. They won't take glass anymore, ..What gets me is when they tell you not to flush old medicine, don't put it in the trash, just store it till it glows.....

[TommyK]

I know what you mean' date=' they just gave us a huge recycle bin on wheels, and a list of rules that won't fit in it. They won't take glass anymore, ..What gets me is when they tell you not to flush [b']old medicine,[/b] don't put it in the trash, just store it till it glows.....

 

There is an aftermarket for that. Especially pain killers.

 

The last time I was on pain killers, they said when I was done with them to not flush the remainder. They recommended tossing into the trash, but mixing it with coffee grounds and food scraps. i.e. make it unpalatable for the nimrod who pick through garbage looking for salable items.

[badbluesplayer]

I'll bet that some neighbor reported the lady to the water cops.

 

I think there are nationwide regulations that prohibit discharging pool water with chlorine in it to storm drains and waterways. The reg's are a good idea for populated areas where there's so many people that you can't have everybody dumping their chlorine down the storm drain. But out in the country where there's not alot of people, the environment may have the capacity to absorb the chlorine before it might have any significant impact on the environment.

 

Chlorine is actually pretty nasty. People who drink chlorinated water have way higher incidence of gastrointestinal cancers. So there is a concern. But turning in your neighbor for discharging pool water seems pretty lame.

[cabba2203]

Pooper Snooper Govt Thugs!

 

Soon they will be compiling data for which homes are not eating enough healthy foods for the Fat Tax.

[oldrockfan]

I love the environment as much as the next guy so don't mind some controls if it will help protect streams, creeks, etc... however... maybe the rulemakers should spend just a little more time checking out what is going on IN THE GULF!!! knock, knock, anyone home?

[milod]

What bothers me is the degree to which there's too much of a tendency to ignore science and follow the lead of some "organization" that has a specific agenda to push whether it is backed by good science or not.

 

I've seen that too often - and usually in some way that cause far more problems than the problem is supposedly corrected. And it ain't just environmental stuff.

 

m

[Riverside]

The OP said it was a kiddie pool, and that there are already rules about improper disposal of the water.

 

Somebody else proposed some new requirement regarding plumbing.

 

I think there's no reason to make a new rule, when there is (apparently) one in place already.

 

How did lead paint and motor oil leak into the discussion?

Aren't there rules about that, too?

 

(Please note - these are rhetorical questions...)

[EVOL!]

With a hose.

 

Exactly. I think some people here either failed physics class or have never siphoned gas.

[Californiaman]

I don't believe I mentioned this in the OP, but those neighbors of mine are moving to Alabama.

They've given us the pool, the pump, the skimmer and the chemicals.

I'm about ready to put together this pool and fill her up.

So if the eco police want to come and visit me, they're welcome to.

When I have to drain it, we'll see what happens.

Having worked for Pool Water Products in So. Cal, I know better than to over chlorinate a pool.