Jump to content

Flushing goldfish.... (amazing story)


Stella

Recommended Posts

Yesterday I went of a field trip with one of Mike Joy's Massey environmental studies classes. One of the stops was the Fielding Sewage Treatment Plant....

It was quite an amazing place, and not as smelly as I expected... Though disturbing they they still really can't treat stuff properly and still don't have any environmentally sound thing to do with the solid matter. (we have been sh**ing for how long and there is still no solution?!)

Anyway, at the end of the tour we came around a corner and there was a huge aviary! Rather incongruous. Then right next to it was a small plastic goldfish pond.

Some of the girls were talking to a guy who worked there and found out the story behind this.

There is this machine right at the start of the plant that filters out all the solids (undisolved toilet paper, poos, misc, quite disturbing to watch). This is a slow machine, a little like a waterwheel with strainers instead of buckets. Apparently one day someone saw a barely alive goldfish being strained out! (This was a seriously right-place-right-time moment. It was picked out and nursed back to health!

This was three years ago. The fish is now huge and healthy. I am guessing 10-12cm long, good body shape, glorious fins and bright orange. I don't know the type but it is a fancy one - really good head-growth, flowing fins, dorsal fin. They bought it a couple of standard double-tailed goldfish for friends.

Even so, don't flush your pets, kids!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hmm... No, your right, not human waste on farms..

Grandfather is a member of Project Care up in Auckland, and I've been to the treatment plant on the North Shore, and i'm sure that the solids were being used for something.... just not sure what it was :/

ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES

The upgrade programme has not been without its challenges. Since changing to the MLE process, the lakes have no longer been used as traditional oxygenation ponds, but rather as polishing waters. With the load on the ponds dramatically reduced, algae blooms have largely ceased and relatively high dissolved oxygen levels have been established. However, the cleaner water has led to the appearance of midge larvae. These are being monitored very closely to ensure that numbers do not reach levels which may pose a potential nuisance to nearby residents.

Improved efficiency also brought a second problem. Modern treatment processes remove more biosolids - and thus produce more sludge - than older plants, placing additional burdens on disposal arrangements, which have historically centred on landfill, currently the cheapest option available.

Recognising that this is not sustainable in the long-term, the council are exploring alternatives, including composting, beneficial reuse as a soil conditioner or applications in forestry. To comply with the Governmental Waste Minimisation Strategy, 95% of biosolids should be reused or composted ahead of a 2007 deadline.

http://www.water-technology.net/projects/rosedale/

Option 2: Or i'm completely wrong and still being used for landfill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know about Aucklanders but down here ours does't stink so we spread it around the radiata forests and it helps grow pretreated pinus radiata. There has been a lot of research done on this and the limiting factor is the application of nitrate (and that takes care of everything else)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have read all the scientific papers that were presented with the application to apply the solids to the forests and the Regional councils main concerns were the leaching of nirates into the groundwater. The heavy metals are generally tied up in the soil and so do not pose much risk to the groundwater. They will eventually build up in the soil or your cabbages of course. My main concern was the possible spread of diseases and that problem was addressed by keeping people out of the area. I wouldn't want it on my garden even though I do recall helping my father dig it out and put it on the garden when I was a kid at Roxborough Hydro.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...