Portland Sewage Overflows and Goldilocks
Posted on January 20, 2015 by Janice Thompson
Tags, Water/Wastewater
Record rainfall last weekend resulted in a sewage overflow into the Willamette River. That means you need to be avoid Willamette River water for a couple of days. What it does not mean is that the Big Pipe project addressing this problem didn’t work.
There used to be an average of 50 sewage overflows into the Willamette every winter. The Big Pipe project is designed to reduce that number down to four winter overflows, but did not eliminate them.
Think about the story of Goldilocks, in which the title character checked out the beds of the three bears to find the one that was “just right” for her. The Big Pipe project was a “just right” design to reduce the number of sewer overflows to a level that met environmental requirements. A “too little” design would increase the risk of costly fines and leave the Willamette too dirty. A “too much” design to eliminate sewage overflows was possible, but the cost was so high that it wasn’t required by environmental regulators.
So if you hear that the Big Pipe project didn’t work because there is a sewage overflow, you can now explain to friends and family that the goal was to dramatically reduce, but not entirely eliminate overflows. The Big Pipe took the “just right” design approach that balances costs and benefits and demonstrates the Goldilocks principle, a strategy that CUB supports.
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02/21/17 | 0 Comments | Portland Sewage Overflows and Goldilocks