Sewage spill in San Francisco Bay
Boating Blog
San Francisco Bay, California - 2.7 million gallons (10.2 million liters) of partially treated sewage spilled into Richardson Bay (an arm of the San Francisco Bay) in Marin county on Thursday evening, when a pump at the waste treatment facility failed.
"We are testing the waters near the accident site to determine if there are any public health issues," said Janell Myhre, emergency services coordinator for Marin County.
Authorities are advising against direct contact with the San Francisco Bay waters until contamination results are available.
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Sewage spill in San Francisco Bay
"- 2.7 million gallons (10.2 million liters)"
Likely more than all the pleasure boats; past, present and future; would have put in The Bay from their marine heads.
LO
Sewage spill San Francisco Bay
Great point!
Reminds me of the unrecovered oil spilled (http://yachtpals.com/node/449) in the San Francisco Bay last year. I wonder how that relates to how much oil is released from pleasure boats over the course of a year, or a decade?
Sewage spill San Francisco Bay
I would guess that about 1 gallon spilled as the result of bilge pump cycling at BYCM in a year. Multiply by say 30 harbors in the bay. about 1/2 barrel. Now if you want to talk about unburnt fuel in powered boats that would be a much larger number.
When oil hits the water it spreads out and given the right calm conditions , it will spread until it is 1 molecule thick. I think this is due to the fact that it has less surface tension than water. So when you shoot detergent on top of it, it seems to go away, but actually the detergent has even less surface tension, forcing the oil to the limits of the detergent spread and slowing oil evaporation.
More than 2 cents worth
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