Spring Creek, Centre Co., 8/16/2011

[Maurice]

How many sanitary sewer plants are on the Yellow Breeches?

Its a tubing highway sometimes.

I never understood the fear of sanitary sewer plants.

I prefer to call them sewage TREATMENT plants.....meaning the effluent is no longer sewage. I'd be more concerned with a community model that did not treat its sewage.

 

[JackM]

Maurice wrote:
I prefer to call them sewage TREATMENT plants.....meaning the effluent is no longer sewage. I'd be more concerned with a community model that did not treat its sewage.

Like Penns Creek Valley?

 

[Maurice]

JackM wrote:

Maurice wrote:
I prefer to call them sewage TREATMENT plants.....meaning the effluent is no longer sewage. I'd be more concerned with a community model that did not treat its sewage.

Like Penns Creek Valley?

Your point?

I am fairly certain that the Penns Creek Valley would have sewage treatment plants if it had the population of a town the size of State College and Bellefonte and surrounding suburbs.

I presume your point is that there is raw sewage leeching into Penns Creek, As with any, many streams, there is always some, usually with high flows and floodplain saturation. The juices begin to flow.

Whats there is there.....its the current baseline. Increased population growth and upgrading current communities with STP's should not be viewed as a bad thing. So long as they are meeting the standards developed through their NPDES permits.

 

[JackM]

Maurice, I guess my point is: how much raw sewage can the stream sustain? Haven't you been quoted as saying that diluton is the solution to pollution?

 

[Maurice]

Yes, and my position above seems to support that.

 

[afishinado]

How much poop is too much poop?

Many of the sewage treatment plants were built to process x number of poops, but because of development there is way more sewage than can be properly processed. Many/most of the ST plants in populated areas are severely overtaxed is spewing some real nasty stuff. Check out some the ST plants along the Skuke.... :-o.

Fredrick is the only person I know with enough "courage" to wet wade there. In fact, I gave up wading there even in my waders. Nasty stuff that will permeate your waders. Also no more feesh in many areas.

You can take a horse to the water but you can't make him fish. (blame Jack for the metaphor thread)

 

[JackM]

You don't want to be up Poop Creek when it's flowing downhill, that much I am certain about. But we gotta do something with either the waste or the effluent post-treatment. We must return the Hs and Os, to the environment, not to mention what to do with the remainder. Treatment is only "so much" treatment. We cannot afford to treat the water discharge back into the environment to the point of being potable. One day, I hope that we will. In the meantime: dilution is the solution to pollution.

 

[troutbert]

JackM wrote:

Maurice wrote:
I prefer to call them sewage TREATMENT plants.....meaning the effluent is no longer sewage. I'd be more concerned with a community model that did not treat its sewage.

Like Penns Creek Valley?

In Penns Valley, Millheim has a sewage plant, and so does Centre Hall.

Has anyone been noticing raw sewage issues on Penns Creek? If so, please give us the details.

 

[JackM]

Troutbert, I don't want to point fingers at any of the streamside residences, but I think many downstream of Coburn may very well be leaching into the water table nearby Penns. I have smelled distinct sewage type smells in certain areas. Obviously, the stream CAN handle it.

 

[troutbert]

JackM wrote:
Troutbert, I don't want to point fingers at any of the streamside residences, but I think many downstream of Coburn may very well be leaching into the water table nearby Penns. I have smelled distinct sewage type smells in certain areas. Obviously, the stream CAN handle it.

Thanks for the info.

BTW, someone with a pretty strong scientific background, who is high up in one of the state resource agencies once said that he thought that in rural areas well designed, well built and well maintained septic systems were much better for the streams than central sewage plants. I agree.

 

[JackM]

The thing is making certain some agency knows the load. Without scrutiny and regulation, discharges can get out of hand.

 

[jdaddy]

afishinado wrote:
How much poop is too much poop?

Many of the sewage treatment plants were built to process x number of poops, but because of development there is way more sewage than can be properly processed. Many/most of the ST plants in populated areas are severely overtaxed is spewing some real nasty stuff. Check out some the ST plants along the Skuke.... :-o.

Fredrick is the only person I know with enough "courage" to wet wade there. In fact, I gave up wading there even in my waders. Nasty stuff that will permeate your waders. Also no more feesh in many areas.

You can take a horse to the water but you can't make him fish. (blame Jack for the metaphor thread)

Truer words . . .

I forgot to rinse my waders off after fishing Skuke once . . . . once.

 

[Fredrick]

afishinado wrote:
How much poop is too much poop?

Many of the sewage treatment plants were built to process x number of poops, but because of development there is way more sewage than can be properly processed. Many/most of the ST plants in populated areas are severely overtaxed is spewing some real nasty stuff. Check out some the ST plants along the Skuke.... :-o.

Fredrick is the only person I know with enough "courage" to wet wade there. In fact, I gave up wading there even in my waders. Nasty stuff that will permeate your waders. Also no more feesh in many areas.

You can take a horse to the water but you can't make him fish. (blame Jack for the metaphor thread)

Yeah the Skuke is one big sewer now all I do is fish there for carp now

 

[jdaddy]

Fredrick wrote:

afishinado wrote:
How much poop is too much poop?

Many of the sewage treatment plants were built to process x number of poops, but because of development there is way more sewage than can be properly processed. Many/most of the ST plants in populated areas are severely overtaxed is spewing some real nasty stuff. Check out some the ST plants along the Skuke.... :-o.

Fredrick is the only person I know with enough "courage" to wet wade there. In fact, I gave up wading there even in my waders. Nasty stuff that will permeate your waders. Also no more feesh in many areas.

You can take a horse to the water but you can't make him fish. (blame Jack for the metaphor thread)

Yeah the Skuke is one big sewer now all I do is fish there for carp now

TU presentation last night was on BASS fishing the Skuke. Seems they are having a pretty good run at it. This is well above your smelly section of the river.