I have been wondering what the effect of all the polluted water will have

[texanwitch]

on the Gulf.

Are there a links to articles about this.

[TahitiNut]

1. I wouldn't expect to be eating shellfish from the area for a while.

As the water is pumped into the Mississippi, without treatment, I doubt it'll do the bottom-feeders or shellfish any good. The water treatment facilities are probably down for the duration - whatever that is.

[BrightKnight]

2. Most drainage is pumped into Lake Pontchartrain.

Most rainwater is pumped into Lake Pontchartrain except for two Westbank pumping stations and two stations in Eastern New Orleans that pump rainwater into the Intercoastal Waterway and the Industrial Canal. Within New Orleans there are 22 Drainage Pumping Stations with station personnel on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are 13 underpass stations containing 2-3 pumps turned on by rising water. The pumps are checked everyday and monitored during rain events. Two underpass stations, (one on the Westbank and the other on the Eastbank), are not run by the S&WB but by the State Department of Transportation and Development. The S&WB operates its own power plant and underground electrical distribution system to provide electricity for many of the pumps.

http://www.bgr.org/budgets/s&wb/systems_description.htm

[TahitiNut]

3. That's probably worse.

Usually, the storm drainage and the sewage system are kept diligently separate. That's because the water treatment requirements are hugely different. (It's why folks are told never to dump waste oil in the street, too.) Since the sewage systems have essentially been "drained" into the floodwaters, the opportunity to treat the waste is nonexistent. I wonder if the pumps are separate ... with separate pumps for the sewers into waste treatment facilities. Maybe they could get the water treatment up and running sooner and run just the sewage pumps. It'd sure take longer, though.

On edit: After reading the link you kindly provided, it's clear the Sewerage System has a far greater capacity than the Drainage System.

New Orleans' sanitary sewer system consists of 1450 miles of lateral and trunk sewers. The system requires 82 electrically operated pumping and lift stations. All but three stations are automatically operated with no attendance other than maintenance checks. Sewer Stations A,D (both on the Eastbank) and C (on Westbank) are large attended stations. The pump stations transfer sewage to two treatment plants operated by a private company under contract to the S&WB. The larger sewage treatment plant is on the Eastbank and the smaller plant is on the Westbank in Algiers.

The need to get the treatment plants up and running as soon as possible is dire, imho. (It's my understanding that "Westbank" means the Mississippi River. No? Or are they the opposing banks of the Mississippi itself and both, therefore, on the Mississippi?)

[BrightKnight]

4. 50 million gallon/day treatment plant might be operational

There is a 50 million gallon per day treatment plant on the opposite bank of the river. It is probably operational. I don't think that the other side flooded.

I could be wrong about the capacity.

[texanwitch]

5. Many thanks for the information.

:hi:

[Lethe]

6. ask one guy here about the water in NO.....

this was in my local paper....we have some people here that were bussed in from NO:

Bailey, 46, who recently retired as a groundskeeper for Charity Hospital, explained that his knees and legs are bandaged because his skin soaked in "a ton of water," which burned his skin as they walked through flooded streets.

"There was a lot of chemicals in that water, a lot of dead bodies," he said. "We saw this one guy that looked like he was running from a tree, but the tree just fell on him, and he was dead there in the water."

http://www.theeagle.com/stories/090505/local_20050905030.php

[texanwitch]

7. The story only gets worse and worse.

I wonder how long before these people start to get sick.

[newyawker99]

8. Hi ikhor!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: