Beards Creek Sewage Spill

[Norm Bartlett]

Spill was 10,000 gallons according todays Sun paper. The BOD and suspended solids of the sewage spill were less than a bushel of chum which equals 9,375 toilet flushes.

Norm

[paxfish]

That's a shame - I spent a lot of time on that creek as a teenager. It was pretty dead water in those days...

[chesapeakeblend]

a bucket of chum is equal to 9375 toilet flushes??????? holy cow!!! i don't use chum anyway but WOW!

[Norm Bartlett]

Chesapeakeblend-A 10 gallon bucket of chum would exceed the sewage spill in Beards Creek. The spill was 10,000 gallons. Toilets made after 1992 have 1.6 gallon tanks. 10,000 divided by 1.6 equals 6250 flushes. Ten gallons of chum is equal to 9,375 flushes.

Here's the Math on the bushel of menhaden thats ground into chum. A bushel of menhaden will make 10 gallons of chum. BOD of chum is 330,000 mg/L. Untreated sewage BOD is 220mg/L 330,000 divided by 220= 1500 Therefore one gallon of chum is equal to 1500 gallons of untreated sewage. 10 gallons of chum (one bushel) is equal to 15,000 gallons of untreated sewage or (15,000 divided by 1.6) 9,375 toilet flushes. A one gallon chum log available at some of the Walmart stores for about $6.50 is equall to 937 toilet flushes of pollution!

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is the amount of oxygen consumed by microorganisms during their decomposition of organic materials. BOD is used as an indication of the extent of organic pollution in bodies of water. From the BOD, the level of pollution or nutrient load, as well as the efficiency in correcting unfavorable conditions , can be determined.

Suspened solids are another index of pollution. Suspened solids of chum are 290,000 mg/L, compare this to untreated sewage which is only 220 mg/L. This ratio (1,318 to 1)is slightly lower than the BOD ratio which is (1500 to 1).

Norm

[chesapeakeblend]

norm -

times how many boats chumming on a given weekend in the summer? that is just crazy!

mike