Given the willingness of the Bush administration to push against personal privacy rights in the war on terrorism, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that two federal agencies have experimented with testing wastewater samples as a possible way of monitoring people’s drug use. That revelation was part of a story on Oregon State University researchers’ drug testing of untreated sewage water of 10 unnamed U.S. cities. The “community urinalysis,” as one researcher put it Tuesday at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, naturally found that caffeine was most prevalent. But it also found that cocaine and affluence go together, that cocaine and ecstasy peak on weekends, and that a gambling town registered meth levels more than five times higher than other cities.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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41 Comments
RhondaGiven the storyline, you should distinguish between meth, methamphetamine and methane!
Methane is probably highest after Cinco de Mayo!
Man, the no-no voter missed out on the “gambling brings meth” slant by three weeks.
Prediction:
The Libs will not like their crap being tested. Invasion of privacy and you can’t trust the government.
The Libs do trust the government to:
-Provide National Healthcare and dictate and control the healthcare we will receive under Hillary Clinton.
-Keep its promise and pay Social Security/Medicare benefits, even after Social Security runs short in the next decade.
-Care for and educate our children from age 3 or 4 in state paid preschools thru High School.
The Libs won’t like their crap tested though.
Shitty job for somebody. Probably some $30/hour government job. Sounds like a job for a scientist – Cosmos?
Interesting, the wealthier an area is the higher quality of drugs.Now we have the evidences against the so called good out-standing citizens.Can we force our political leaders to the pee-test upon entering political office and at random afterwards?
Doctor: “Mr. President, uh-mm you need to cut back your intake of cocaine.”Bush: “Why – Hell No, Doctor!”Bush: “This is the best in the world, the ingredients were produced in Canada and put together in Mexico.”
Kinda makes those people who practice homeopathy look stupid huh?
Another good reason for ETHANOL MANUFACTURING COMPANIES to recycle raw sewage treatment effluent from Kansas sewage treatment plants for their ethanol production water needs.
Currently they are targeting and stealing Kansas relatively pure underground Ogallala and Equis Beds aquifer water from under the surface of the land of most of central and western Kansas for ETHANOL production. And leaving the sewage treatment effluent to be recycled into drinking water for Kansas citizens.
This ancient pure Ogallala and Equis Beds water should be protected for use by Kansans for … high quality drinking water.
Legally our underground aquifer water belongs to the people of Kansas. However, Governor Sebelius and other assorted politicians are intent on “giving it away” to the carpet bag ethanol industrialists for free for the asking.
Perhaps those unintended illegal additives would furnish additional horsepower in the ETHANOL produced.
No, I don’t think testing an entire community through the water supply is a bad thing at all. If they were singling out a household, that’d be a different story.
It’s important to know really, by how it can affect what we dump back into the environment. Our town goes crazy over people dumping grease down the drains.
First of all it would be nice if Bush were to gather the town’s samples himself for testing. I wonder who they hired for that job. Secondly the fact that most of the coke comes from the asses of the “affluent” (translation: rich white people) doesn’t surprise me either. The fact that the only people that go to jail for coccaine are poor blacks in a nation that calls itself “fair and just” does surprise me.
“Interesting, the wealthier an area is the higher quality of drugs.Now we have the evidences against the so called good out-standing citizens.Can we force our political leaders to the pee-test upon entering political office and at random afterwards?”
Not only should they be tested but any professional that holds a state or federal license of any kind should be tested randomly 2 times a year. This would include doctors, lawyers, judges. Also all business owners should be tested randomly as a condition of their business license. Why pick on just the working people with drug test? The policy should be all or none.
It doesn’t bother me is they test a whole community. I would like to see more testing of the rich. This gives me an idea for the next Michael Moore film- go into the rich Republican neighbourhoods of a city and go door to door and ask the rich for a hair sample. Say something like “we are doing a film about drug abuse and the rich”. See how many of the rich willingly hand over a sample. After all, they force us to hand them over a sample “as a condition of employment” don’t they?
In the 1990s, this also was proposed by the previous Administration. Doesn’t matter who is in charge.
“In the 1990s, this also was proposed by the previous Administration. Doesn’t matter who is in charge.”
The previous administration was only slightly better than the current administration. If he really “didn’t inhale” which I don’t buy, he still committed a crime by being in possession of it. Yet he was President and still sees fit to put others in prison for doing the same thing he did.
What’s to stop the Government from testing individual houses?
They can collect samples almost anywhere you know.
Big Brother, it’s ok for him to sniff around your house?
You better not let any visitors use your bathroom!
As Obama answered when asked if he had inhaled, “that was the point.”
Gotta love that Obama sometimes!!ROFL!!
Outta here at 9:11 AM
The sad truth is that wastewater is recycled back into the ‘clean’ water.
Bottled water anyone?
Isn’t it too bad we don’t have a real way to test for truth telling. I’d like to target the White House, Senate and the House of Republicans first and then trickle down to the state, county and city government officials.
Too bad the Bush Administration saw fit to only target cities’ general water supply.
“What’s to stop the Government from testing individual houses?
They can collect samples almost anywhere you know.”
It would be a difficult thing to do and would require that they go on to your property and open your sewer cleaning trap and catch the waste as you flush or get it out of the drainage traps in your house (lost rings are often found here because people mistakenly think that if the ring goes down the sink, it is gone). After sewage leaves your house it goes into a pipe that also contains the sewage of your neighbourhood. If they go on your property, it would probably require a search warrant although I am sure the Republicans are hard at work trying to scuttle that too. All in the name of “fighting terrorism” of course.
“The sad truth is that wastewater is recycled back into the ‘clean’ water.
Bottled water anyone?”
Tap water is as good as anything you buy in a bottle. I never buy bottled water unless there is no other choice although if they sold Chicago Tap Water in a bottle I would buy that because Chicago has the best tap water in the world!
Shitty job for somebody. Probably some $30/hour government job. Sounds like a job for a scientist – Cosmos?
Posted by: Wahawk | August 26, 2007 at 01:52 AM
I’d gladly pay the $30 to watch Paris/Lindsey/Brittany gathering samples for community service hours.
What’s to stop the Government from testing individual houses?
They can collect samples almost anywhere you know.
Posted by: Max | August 26, 2007 at 09:07 AM
Its Wacko, texas; Government agents, acting on a tip from a talk radio host, are moving in on a septic system on a farm occupied by ‘non-501c3 sanctioned religious heathens’ . Camouflaged as a coyote an agent crawls into the tank and retrieves the damning evidence. Suddenly he is spotted and shot at; within hours the compound is surrounded by the ‘Republican’ guard…….
Shitty job for somebody. Probably some $30/hour government job. Sounds like a job for a scientist – Cosmos?
Posted by: Wahawk | August 26, 2007 at 01:52 AM
I’d gladly pay the $30 to watch Paris/Lindsey/Brittany gathering samples for community service hours.
What’s to stop the Government from testing individual houses?
They can collect samples almost anywhere you know.
Posted by: Max | August 26, 2007 at 09:07 AM
Its Wacko, texas; Government agents, acting on a tip from a talk radio host, are moving in on a septic system on a farm occupied by ‘non-501c3 sanctioned religious heathens’ . Camouflaged as a coyote an agent crawls into the tank and retrieves the damning evidence. Suddenly he is spotted and shot at; within hours the compound is surrounded by the ‘Republican’ guard…….
Shitty job for somebody. Probably some $30/hour government job. Sounds like a job for a scientist – Cosmos?
Posted by: Wahawk | August 26, 2007 at 01:52 AM
I’d gladly pay the $30 to watch Paris/Lindsey/Brittany gathering samples for community service hours.
What’s to stop the Government from testing individual houses?
They can collect samples almost anywhere you know.
Posted by: Max | August 26, 2007 at 09:07 AM
Its Wacko, texas; Government agents, acting on a tip from a talk radio host, are moving in on a septic system on a farm occupied by ‘non-501c3 sanctioned religious heathens’ . Camouflaged as a coyote an agent crawls into the tank and retrieves the damning evidence. Suddenly he is spotted and shot at; within hours the compound is surrounded by the ‘Republican’ guard…….
sorry for resend; new user
JWink – FYI – at least one ethanol company IS looking at sewer plant effluent as process water. They re also looking at biomass as feedstock.
This reminds me of the old joke about the Draftee trying to get out of the being drafted into the Army.
Pardon my joke telling skills.
———–A man received a letter that he was to report to the Induction station to get his draft physical. He was required to stop by and get a urine cup for the purposes of drug testing two weeks prior to his physical.
The man went and got the cup and his creative juices went into overtime.
He got a urine sample from his horse, his dog, his wife and himself.
He felt sure that he would be rejected from the Draft because of this screwed up urine sample.
He took the sample to the med station at the Induction place.
Ten days later he got a letter from the Induction center which read:
Dear Mr. XXXX,
Thank you for your prompt submission of your lab specimen to the Medical Unit at the Induction Center. We have processed the results and they are below.
Your Horse has equine encephalitis.
Your dog has Leptospiros
Your wife is pregnant.
In regards to your specimen sample Mr. XXX, please report to the Induction Center for the remainder of your physical and for further processing as you will be Inducted into the United States Army the same day as processing.
Please pack lightly as you won’t have much room on the bus taking you to the Basic Training Center.
signed,
Induction Medical Officer,Induction Commander
That is a nice joke, Kansas.It should be laughable but after reading this Weblog’s topics.I am having a hard time to have a sense of humor about a joke that could really happen that way.
So that’s what they mean when they say it’s ‘Good Shit’.
Prediction:
The Libs will not like their crap being tested. Invasion of privacy and you can’t trust the government.
The Libs do trust the government to:
-Provide National Healthcare and dictate and control the healthcare we will receive under Hillary Clinton.
-Keep its promise and pay Social Security/Medicare benefits, even after Social Security runs short in the next decade.
-Care for and educate our children from age 3 or 4 in state paid preschools thru High School.
The Libs won’t like their crap tested though.
Shitty job for somebody. Probably some $30/hour government job. Sounds like a job for a scientist – Cosmos?
Posted by: Wahawk | August 26, 2007 at 01:52 AM
So, Wahawk, from the tone of your post should I infer that you’re in favor of having your crap tested?
Tap water is as good as anything you buy in a bottle.
Apparently you haven’t lived in Wichita where the water is often a yellowish green.
Hmm, I wonder how much Jack Daniels I have “recycled” over the years???????????
180*
Ben: I remember that an ethanol company named Emerald City, which is related somehow to ICM (ethanol) Company in Colwich, said in their announcement several weeks ago they were considering using Newton’s sewage treatment effluent for their water source. That’s GOOD if they follow through and the volumes are adequate.
However, I read a later article in some newspaper, perhaps the Newton newspaper, that didn’t mention using the sewage effluent source. I hope they haven’t already discarded the plan.
I noticed an announcement of another ethanol plant to be located in Hugoton, Kansas which will use an enormous amount of Ogallala aquifer water. Local citizens do want ethanol plants in western Kansas hoping to grow their economies. Of course, the Hugoton area is already a Kansas economic oasis due to natural gas production.
In Pratt, an ethanol plant production company sold itself to the Pratt community by promising the ownership company would place some some high paid ethanol executives in Pratt. But already, the “ownership company” has announced they are moving to Texas. So Pratt is stuck with the new ethanol plant sucking up huge quantities of water from under that area. In my opinion, this has the potential of drying up the two branches of the Ninnescah River, the north branch of which feeds Cheney Lake. Cheney Lake, in turn, provides 1/2 of Wichita’s water supply.
As I have previously mentioned in these blogs, Meade County State Park in southwestern Kansas formerly had artesian springs which actually jumped water out of the ground in mini-geysers about four inches high as I recall. The source was the Ogallala aquifer pushing water upward because of the hydralics of the deep basin or valley in which Meade County Park and Lake was located.
UNFORTUNATELY, THESE MEADE COUNTY ARTESIAN SPRINGS WERE ELIMINATED BY DRAWDOWN OF THE OGALLALA IN THE VICINITY.
I’m trying to draw attention to these potential catastrophic problems with our water supply while the Governor and politicians who are paid to oversee these problems are sitting on their thumbs and stonewalling the issue.
I recall your suggestion that some aquifer water in some cases might be from shallower alluvial aquifers. Alluvial aquifers, also called “underflow” aquifers, are fairly common in Kansas with sandy soil and lots of evaporation of surface water. But alluvial water sources would be fairly undependable for large quantities of water.
BTW, Gul–
What does the 180* mean?
That you are 180 degrees in opposition to reality?
I am willing to have my waste water tested and the results made public as long as THE WHITE HOUSE will do the same . . . .
Be interesting to see if W. is drunk most of the time.
He sure acts like it . . .
JWink – the Equus used by Wichita is an alluvial aquifer. It generated a lot of water. So, the ability of an alluvial aquifer to provide large quantities is a function of the aquifer and other aspects of its system.
My understanding is that the Newton plant still plans to use effluent. I am also looking into trying to get Wichita’s NW sewage plant to be a source for another plant. The key is that the quality must be sufficient to support the brewing process.
Ben; I believe it is standard operating procedure to treat sewage effluent adequately to put back in public rivers and streams. If that level of treatment isn’t adequate, yes the ethanol company might have to treat it some more.
But good idea to consider putting an ethanol plant at Wichita’s NW treatment plant wherever that is.
Might get some opposition from local farmers who line up for the solid effluent to use in their fields.
Actually that would work well. The ethanol plant gets the treated water; the farmers the “Doo-dah dirt”. However, there is another point to consider in location – proximity to animal feeding operations. A major by-product of ethanol production is a high-protein cattle feed. It is wet as produced and thus has a short shelf life. So, it is good to have nearby customers.
As the feed has about 1/2% ethanol(I think that is the number) the cattle like it. It can be dried for shipment but that raises other issues.
You raise a good point though – co-locate facilities that can ‘feed off each other’. Farmers like the solid sludge; if the ethanol plant can use the liquid PLUS buy milo or corn from farmers we have a system. Then add cattle feeding and it gets even better.
By the way, it is my understanding that because the feed is high-protein and lower starch the cattle are leaner. Not a bad thing.
Back to the original thread: Way back in 1967 when the Red Sox won the pennant the Boston sewer department said they could identify breaks in the game due to ’surges’ of effluent as everyone flushed at the same time …
Ben,
If you haven’t seen… treated sludge + yard trimmings to make ‘Dillo Dirt’.http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/dillo.htm
cosmos – fundamentally this is not new. Many of us who are older remember using a mix of manure and grass clippings as a soil amendment. There is also Milorganite on the market – sludge from Milwaukee. A lot can be used to close loops.
Keep two Clorox toilet tank pellets in your tank and VIOLA!! the chlorine destroys the metabolites.