sewer

As I was perusing YouTube I came across a video from National Geographic that I must admit was fascinating while at the same time disturbing. The video describes how rats are able to travel from the sewer into your toilet. Although this is reportedly an uncommon occurence, I will be sure to look before I sit from now on.

Aging US water infrastructure has meant more leaks, flooded basements, and massive sinkholes in cities across the US. Fixing the water and sewer systems in need of repair will take billions of dollars, and it's hard to find that kind of money in the budget these days. Saqib Rahim reports for ClimateWire on Philadelphia's decision to use "green infrastructure" rather than building a larger pipe system to handle the water that's dumped on the city during severe storms. The combination of more intense storms and more paved area is a problem: Impervious surfaces like roads, sidewalks, and…

I was delighted to be a guest on the Skeptically Speaking radio show/ podcast recently - I spoke with host Desiree Schell about why toilets (and other related forms of sanitation) are so great. In fact, the whole episode is dedicated to the topic of "Sewer Science," and also features University of York's Alistair Boxall discussing pharmaceutical contaminants. The previous episode focuses on municipal water systems and water fluoridation, and there are many other fascinating health-related episodes on the site available for downloading or online listening. My past posts on sanitation in the…