Gowanus Canal and CSO
Isn’t the Gowanus Canal disgusting? There's poop, mixed sediments, and who knows what else is mixed with that sewer water! This is too important to avoid yet no one is actually try to make any changes though all the money that people give to fix the problem. The fact that the Gowanus Canal is a dangerous place carrying diseases, and infecting wild life, as well as having that putrid smell in the summer should be enough to prove that we need to act.
The CSO (Combined Sewage Overflow) is when the rain, sewer, and street water the pipes that lead to those water treatment plant but when there's way too much water overflowing the pipes and it flows out to the open bodies of water and pollute it completely (As shown). This started around the late 19th century where engineers decide to go cheap by making combined sewers an option which wasn’t much of a bad choice at the time because while separate sewer systems worked well they felt combined sewers worked well and didn't cost that much. That all changed when engineers in the early 20th century realized the flaw that would harm many. When someone realized the flaw the tried to change it by sending an email to inform them to stop any future sewage being made yet it was way too late (even though it didn’t take that long of a realization) Philadelphia already had the sewers changed. That was the start of it.
Sure, the water of the Gowanus Canal smells awful when it’s the summer but that’s the least of your worries because the Gowanus Canal carries water-borne diseases like hepatitis and also gastroenteritis a flu that causes inflammation in the stomach and in other instances you don’t even have to drink the water to get infected. It also can pollute the wild life in the water such as fishes, algae, and more. So do you see the danger that is the Gowanus Canal, and if you still don’t think this isn’t a big deal then listen to this over time the Gowanus has had a streak of having bodies floating around, the latest incident was when a man was found floating above the water(2014).
A way that we can solve the problem by fixing mistake that the workers made and change the combined sewers into completely separate sewers(like below). This will help but there other ways we can help by not using the bathroom while it's raining outside because the storm water can flood the system.
The CSO (Combined Sewage Overflow) is when the rain, sewer, and street water the pipes that lead to those water treatment plant but when there's way too much water overflowing the pipes and it flows out to the open bodies of water and pollute it completely (As shown). This started around the late 19th century where engineers decide to go cheap by making combined sewers an option which wasn’t much of a bad choice at the time because while separate sewer systems worked well they felt combined sewers worked well and didn't cost that much. That all changed when engineers in the early 20th century realized the flaw that would harm many. When someone realized the flaw the tried to change it by sending an email to inform them to stop any future sewage being made yet it was way too late (even though it didn’t take that long of a realization) Philadelphia already had the sewers changed. That was the start of it.
Sure, the water of the Gowanus Canal smells awful when it’s the summer but that’s the least of your worries because the Gowanus Canal carries water-borne diseases like hepatitis and also gastroenteritis a flu that causes inflammation in the stomach and in other instances you don’t even have to drink the water to get infected. It also can pollute the wild life in the water such as fishes, algae, and more. So do you see the danger that is the Gowanus Canal, and if you still don’t think this isn’t a big deal then listen to this over time the Gowanus has had a streak of having bodies floating around, the latest incident was when a man was found floating above the water(2014).
A way that we can solve the problem by fixing mistake that the workers made and change the combined sewers into completely separate sewers(like below). This will help but there other ways we can help by not using the bathroom while it's raining outside because the storm water can flood the system.
Jonathan Romero
11/4/15
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