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Crap Cakes Kills City Fly Problem
By Dean Gray; August 20, 2008
Desert Hot Springs, CA - In a stunning conclusion to a vexatious fly problem, the
last 18-wheel semi rolled out of the sewage treatment plant carrying a heavy load
of wet, "stinky poo." It took a total of 19 truck loads, hauling 25 tons (25 cubic
yards) per load of the "stinky poo" to rid the sewage treatment yard of stinky goo.
The Mission Springs Water District (MSWD) brought a new machine on-line two
weeks ago pressing the poo into dry crap cakes. Pressing the liquid out the
sewage is a process that “bakes a crap cake” replacing the old method of drying
poo by spreading it over the land in crap beds to dry in the sun. This was one
source of a terrible fly problem plaguing the city and driving people nuts.
It seemed as if there was no where to hide, no room where the fearless flies
couldn't sneak into. On cars, driving down the road, swarms of poo born flies were
splattering windshields.
While the Mosquito and Vector Control Board came out every two weeks to spray,
it wasn't enough to bring a halt the growing fly menace. They (the flies) were
creating a terrible burden to the city tourism industry," according to Judy Bowman,
President of the Hoteliers Association.
“It's finally over,” said Brent Gray, Director of Operations, “This brings the fly
problem to a screeching halt.”
“It was the perfect storm of circumstances creating the fly problem,” explained
Marilyn McKay, Administrative Officer. “There was a cooler, damper winter, and
new hook-ups. It wasn't new development that added to the treatment plant input
but bringing existing homes on-line”
The new sewage sludge press machine arrived two weeks ago after a long drive
from the east coast. The contraption went to work right away. It took a full week of
work to load 19 semi's full of crap bed poo for dumping at an Arizona landfill. The
city's poo is too toxic for dumping in a California landfill.
"We had to dry it out somehow and fast. First we tried drying it out by adding sand
and that made it too heavy. Then we found the perfect ingredient. It was ordinary
sawdust. So we mixed it in. As soon as we could, we scooped it up and had it
hauled off,” said Gray. “We're very sensitive to the issues and worked hard to
remove the public nuisance.”
While the old system took 6-8 weeks to dry the raw poo in the sun, the new
system is instantaneous. The massive new sludge drying machine works by
squeezing out the wet “filtrate” and compacting the poo into a cake-like material
scooped up by the loader then dumped in a truck to haul off. No additional
manpower is required to operate the poo processor as the operator of the
equipment also drives the loader doing the crap cake dumping. A new piece of
equipment with a screw device will automate this dumping process.
The district is leasing this 1.5 meter processing equipment until a larger 2 meter
unit is custom made, arriving in about a month. The capacity of the plant is 2.3
million gallons per day (mgpd) averaging 1.6 mgpd. The new equipment and the
truck are wrapped in a covering at night and days off warding off the flies, leaving
no conditions enabling the larva to hatch.
Looking beyond the present treatment facility is a regional treatment plant planned
for the city's target annexation plan, south near the I-10 freeway and spelled out in
the MSWD's Master Plan being developed by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Ultimately, all of the sewage for the entire city will be redirected to the outskirts of
town.
The MSWD is proud to have finally licked the fly problem.
“Our goal was to have this done by mid-September,” said Meilani MacDonald,
Public Information Associate.
By the end of the year MSWD will have spent almost $700,000 on this solution.
“I have to acknowledge everyone, from administration, to staff, to the people
working in the field coordinating this process, making it all come together,” said
Gray. “We can never honestly say it's a no-fly zone but from this day forward
everyone should notice big relief.”
By Dean Gray; August 20, 2008
Desert Hot Springs, CA - In a stunning conclusion to a vexatious fly problem, the
last 18-wheel semi rolled out of the sewage treatment plant carrying a heavy load
of wet, "stinky poo." It took a total of 19 truck loads, hauling 25 tons (25 cubic
yards) per load of the "stinky poo" to rid the sewage treatment yard of stinky goo.
The Mission Springs Water District (MSWD) brought a new machine on-line two
weeks ago pressing the poo into dry crap cakes. Pressing the liquid out the
sewage is a process that “bakes a crap cake” replacing the old method of drying
poo by spreading it over the land in crap beds to dry in the sun. This was one
source of a terrible fly problem plaguing the city and driving people nuts.
It seemed as if there was no where to hide, no room where the fearless flies
couldn't sneak into. On cars, driving down the road, swarms of poo born flies were
splattering windshields.
While the Mosquito and Vector Control Board came out every two weeks to spray,
it wasn't enough to bring a halt the growing fly menace. They (the flies) were
creating a terrible burden to the city tourism industry," according to Judy Bowman,
President of the Hoteliers Association.
“It's finally over,” said Brent Gray, Director of Operations, “This brings the fly
problem to a screeching halt.”
“It was the perfect storm of circumstances creating the fly problem,” explained
Marilyn McKay, Administrative Officer. “There was a cooler, damper winter, and
new hook-ups. It wasn't new development that added to the treatment plant input
but bringing existing homes on-line”
The new sewage sludge press machine arrived two weeks ago after a long drive
from the east coast. The contraption went to work right away. It took a full week of
work to load 19 semi's full of crap bed poo for dumping at an Arizona landfill. The
city's poo is too toxic for dumping in a California landfill.
"We had to dry it out somehow and fast. First we tried drying it out by adding sand
and that made it too heavy. Then we found the perfect ingredient. It was ordinary
sawdust. So we mixed it in. As soon as we could, we scooped it up and had it
hauled off,” said Gray. “We're very sensitive to the issues and worked hard to
remove the public nuisance.”
While the old system took 6-8 weeks to dry the raw poo in the sun, the new
system is instantaneous. The massive new sludge drying machine works by
squeezing out the wet “filtrate” and compacting the poo into a cake-like material
scooped up by the loader then dumped in a truck to haul off. No additional
manpower is required to operate the poo processor as the operator of the
equipment also drives the loader doing the crap cake dumping. A new piece of
equipment with a screw device will automate this dumping process.
The district is leasing this 1.5 meter processing equipment until a larger 2 meter
unit is custom made, arriving in about a month. The capacity of the plant is 2.3
million gallons per day (mgpd) averaging 1.6 mgpd. The new equipment and the
truck are wrapped in a covering at night and days off warding off the flies, leaving
no conditions enabling the larva to hatch.
Looking beyond the present treatment facility is a regional treatment plant planned
for the city's target annexation plan, south near the I-10 freeway and spelled out in
the MSWD's Master Plan being developed by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Ultimately, all of the sewage for the entire city will be redirected to the outskirts of
town.
The MSWD is proud to have finally licked the fly problem.
“Our goal was to have this done by mid-September,” said Meilani MacDonald,
Public Information Associate.
By the end of the year MSWD will have spent almost $700,000 on this solution.
“I have to acknowledge everyone, from administration, to staff, to the people
working in the field coordinating this process, making it all come together,” said
Gray. “We can never honestly say it's a no-fly zone but from this day forward
everyone should notice big relief.”
 |
The crap cake hauling
semi.
semi.
The machine that processing raw
poo into crap cake.
poo into crap cake.
The loader is collecting crap cake for
depositing in the special hauling truck.
depositing in the special hauling truck.