Df Painter Cleaning Paint Bucket Into The Storm Sewers

[markd]

Last night i noticed white foam at the sewer catch basin in front of the house, i followed it half way up the block to a house where a painter was cleaning out a 5 gallon paint bucket. Looks like he just put the pail under the tap and just let it ran. I had my camera so i took a bunch of pictures and shut the water off, and of course i gave the painter sh!t.

 

Today i phoned the city ( 3-1-1 ) they said its actually a 9-1-1 call and will investigate the case.

 

 

[Guest rusty]

Nice work.

 

Df painter...hahahah.

[LynnF]

that's excellent....good on you for calling.

 

Speaking of 311 (this is a weak segue) anyone know if by law is still handing out tickets for people who are trying to get their concrete to grow by putting on sprinklers for 4 hours every night?

[OneMoreLastCast]

More people have to start doing what you did. Well done.

 

Water from the storm drainage into the rivers do more harm than the Treatment plants.

Of course it couldn't possibly policed properly, unless concerned citizens start doing as you did.

 

I sure hope they are fining people for wasting water as you mention Lynn.

[clarki]

what harm do the treatment plants cause?

 

M

[Harps]

Call 1-800-222-6514 (#7378 on a cell phone)

 

That 24hr number will put you through to an enviro emergency line that will send investigators ASAP. The Environment Canada and Alberta Environment staff are trained to properly collect spill evidence to take it to court. They have the training and experiance to pursue charges if they need to be laid.

 

You can still call and report it now. Like MissinTheBow mentioned, we need better control on what goes down the storm drains.

 

Good eye!

[Brownstone]

Thats brutal..lots of people don;t realize that all storm drains go to the river..I know in other cities Ive lived in they have fish painted by the storm drains to remind people..anybody seen this in Calgary...good work Markd

[bigbowtrout]

http://content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Living/...oad+Program.htm

 

http://www.yellowfishroad.org/

 

 

 

I would have painted the Bastard then chucked my bait can at his head

 

 

Good job on calling it in

[Red]

Thats brutal..lots of people don;t realize that all storm drains go to the river..I know in other cities Ive lived in they have fish painted by the storm drains to remind people..anybody seen this in Calgary...good work Markd

 

I actually saw a yellow fish painted near a drain by the tunnel that goes under the track and into the infield at the Stampede. It's the only one I've seen in Calgary and I'm not sure why that location. I would imagine there is more beer spilled in that drain than anything else.

[trailhead]

They have elementary school kids paint the yellow fish on storm sewer drains wherever they have programs to do this, it's run by Trout Unlimited. I think that they also paint the ones that are thought to have a problem with excessive dumping. I saw a carpet cleaning truck dumping it's dirty sopay water into one once, but the East Indian fellow doing so got super pissed at me and I did not have my camera with me. Ram.

[grannyknot]

When I was in grade school trout unlimited gave us kids paint and stencils and we put fishies on all the drains in Cochrane, but they only last a year or two. At least the kids who do it will remember for life. Good job MarkD.

[gravelman]

I parpicapated in the yellow fish program when i was a kid in okotoks. We were the first to do it and it is still practiced out there. Please phone the enviroment service. Also if you see people washing there cars in there driveway i believe this is against a calgary bylaw. report them as well.

[jimbow]

oops wrong spot.

[LynnF]

When I was in grade school trout unlimited gave us kids paint and stencils and we put fishies on all the drains in Cochrane, but they only last a year or two. At least the kids who do it will remember for life. Good job MarkD.

 

My son (grade 7) had an opportunity to do that for this summer but couldn't due to camp etc. But I guess they're going out there and painting yellow fishies all over the city again. Good.

 

You'd be amazed at how many people will wash their cars in their driveways and not know that they can't. Big fines for that too. One guy even told me (after I was a very nice neighbour and told him that if bylaw caught him doing that he'd face a stiff fine), that he was doing biodegradeable soap from Canadian Tire and it was OK. Some people refuse to get it.

 

I'm on a mission with concrete waterers....you can't believe - even just on my street - how many people water their concrete to the point where it's a stream flowing down the street into the sewer. What a total waste. If you can't get your sprinkler to just hit your grass then water the damn lawn by hand.

[wongrs]

nice work on letting them know that they were doing something bad.

 

on a side note lynn, i have a friend that just landscaped her front yard using natural prairie grassland grass. the stuff that evolved here to survive in these specific conditions instead of imported grass that has high water requirements. can give you more info if desired.

[cdock]

what harm do the treatment plants cause?

 

M

 

I don't think any. I read a couple of books that give these credit for keeping the Bow clean and even helping it be the river it is today. I used to work at a water treatment plant (not sewage treatment however) and the only thing coming out of it was water you could drink minus the cholorine of course. I can't speak for the sewage treatment outflow but from the little I do know it's good enough to sustain healthy populations of microorganisms that in turn help plants, fish, and the rest of the ecosystem. I know industrial waste isn't good but the treatment plants should be fine.

[OneMoreLastCast]

what harm do the treatment plants cause?

 

M

 

We don't want to get into this again do we....eh Harps?

 

There's enough information on the internet on the positives and negatives rather than do it here again.

 

Like mentioned, the storm drainage does a lot of harm and people doing what Mark did needs to be done more often.

[Harps]

From Calgary Herald

19 July 2007

 

Alberta's rivers are 'polluted stews'

 

Several massive rainstorms in 2005 turned many Alberta rivers into polluted stews of bacteria, metals and pesticides, a newly released government report shows.

Four of the province's six major river systems -- the Bow, Oldman, Red Deer and North Saskatchewan -- rated "fair" between April 2005 and the end of March 2006, down significantly from previous years.

The province's target, however, is for all rivers to achieve "good" to "excellent" water quality, which was only recorded in the Athabasca and Smoky-Peace river systems.

The results should serve as a wake-up call to the poor health of several Alberta Rivers, water expert Danielle Droitsch said, while Liberal environment critic David Swann contended the ratings show the provincial government's water strategy is underfunded and failing.

Both believe the increased pollution points to a larger problem: too much residential, agriculture and industrial development is occurring near rivers.

"Weather shouldn't determine the quality of rivers," Swann said Wednesday.

"Development," he added, "trumps all other considerations" for the government.

But Alberta Environment spokeswoman Erin Carrier said Albertans shouldn't be troubled by the findings.

The river quality index, she explained, offers a snapshot of the state of water above and below some of the province's major cities.

The snapshot in 2005-06 was rather murky because several major rainstorms drenched southern and central Alberta, Carrier said.

The storms led to flooding, which swept an abundance of pesticides, metals and bacteria, including E. coli and fecal coliforms, into the rivers.

Along the Bow River, for instance, while water quality rated as "excellent" at Cochrane, it dropped to "fair" near Carseland, with higher levels of bacteria posing the greatest problem.

Water quality of the rivers has improved since then, Carrier said.

"This is more episodic," she said. "There really is no cause of concern on our end."

Carrier said the runoff from flooding and storm sewers did not have a lasting impact, nor did it require funding for cleanup.

But Droitsch, of the Bow Riverkeeper organization, believes the poor ratings reflect more than an act of Mother Nature.

"Flooding is a natural event, but flooding shouldn't have such a negative impact on rivers," she said.

"It really should be a wake-up call that we have some serious land development going on.

"We are developing right up to rivers."

Carrier said the province is working with municipalities and advisory groups, such as the Bow River Basin Council, to address residential and industrial activity around rivers.

Chairman Bill Berzins said the council is developing water quality objectives for the Bow and Elbow rivers. He believes government funding for water will improve when the public speaks up, en masse.

"I think we as Albertans need to say long-term sustainability and stability of our water supply is on par with other infrastructure funding for education and health care," he said.

 

I like this:

But Alberta Environment spokeswoman Erin Carrier said Albertans shouldn't be troubled by the findings.

The river quality index, she explained, offers a snapshot of the state of water above and below some of the province's major cities.

"This is more episodic," she said. "There really is no cause of concern on our end."

 

No cause for Alberta Environment to be concerned... just a poison stew of pesticides, hydrocarbons, carcinagenics, fecal waste, and other nasty chemicals. Its all from storm sewers so who cares!?!

 

MissinTheBow, maybe I'll avoid this whole thing ... I'm off to Vancouver for court next week.

 

Cheers,

[OneMoreLastCast]

Have a good trip.

 

It's too bad more people don't listen.

 

I'm leaving it alone too. I've fought long enough.

 

The points seem to get misunderstood anyways...