I think this might be my second post but if not blame it on my 'senior
moment.' I want to add to Dean's post. Runoff from the streets, parking
lots and gasoline stations includes automobile fluids such as
anti-freeze, lubricating oil, fuel, and deicing salts. All of these are
especially harmful because the natural biodegrading processes of the
natural materials are substantially quenched. It is a matter of
chemistry.
>We have two sewer systems. A Storm sewer system. And a sanitary sewer
>system.
>
>The sanitary sewer is a closed system that carries everything from your home
>or business (toilet, bathtub, laundry, sinks, etc) to processing plants (the
>largest, by far, in the Pigs Eye/Greycloud Island area south of South St
>Paul) where it is treated before being released into the Mississippi.
>
>The storm sewer system is really nothing more that a rerouting of the
>streams, brooks, rills, (that would otherwise carry away rain water) into
>underground tubes that then deposit the water into the nearest stream, lake,
>river or wetland. As you walk along a lake, river, creek, stream or
>wetland look for these concrete tubes and wonder about what has been flushed
>off of the streets and is now coming out into our precious water bodies.
>
>Roofs, parking lots, driveways and streets are really part of the storm
>sewer system, for they collect and channel rain and snow melt into the storm
>drains and thus into the concrete tubes and thus into our precious bodies of
>water. (Unless, like the Green Institute, where the parking lot is
>designed to channel all water to where it will sink into the ground.) In an
>Urban area such a large percentage of the surface area is roofs, parking
>lots, driveways and streets that lots and lots of rain just runs off into
>the storm sewers and steams causing flooding while at the same time not
>allowing enough water to sink into the earth, so as a result, we have a much
>lower water table than before the urban build up.
>
>Leaves that in years past fell at the base of a tree and decayed now fall
>onto a driveway and are washed into the street and into the storm sewer and
>into the nearest lake, steam, river or wetland.
>
>Sincerely,
>Dean Zimmermann
>Commissioner Mpls Park Board. Dist 3
>
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>612-722-8768
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
>Behalf Of Pam Blixt
>Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 6:25 PM
>To: Multiple recipients of list
>Subject: Re: storm water run-off
>
>I have been out of town for several days and missed out on the leaf
>discussion but...
>
>Barb Lickness wrote:
>> Can somebody out there talk about what areas of the
>> city are connected to the sewer system and which ones
>> are not. And maybe how when and why that happened?
>>
>and Greg Riedesel wrote:
>>I know that St. Paul had interconnecitons between their run-off
>>systems and their sewer systems, such that when it rained a heckovalot,
>>raw sewage was ending up in the Mississippi. They've spent a heckovalot
>>to remove the interconnections.
>
>Mpls. spent the same gajillions to separate their sewer system and finished
>several years ago. The storm sewer map for the City of Minneapolis is an
>intricate and (only for those of us in water management) endlessly
>fascinating thing. If you volunteer to spray paint your storm sewers with
>the image "Don't Dump! Drains to ...) the city will give you a map of your
>local area so you can spray paint the correct water body on the grate.
>Various storm sewers drain to the Mississippi, Shingle, Minnehaha or Bassett
>creeks, or the various lakes and ponds. It all depends on which watershed
>you are in and it can change, depending on where the city needs to route
>water due to flooding problems. The system is heavily dependent upon
>gravity so if you follow your storm sewer down hill you will probably arrive
>at its final destination.
>
>Pam Blixt
>Nokomis East
>
>
>
>
John Ferman
Harriet Avenue
Kingfield Neighborhood
Minneapolis
Ward 10 Pct 10
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
