Sewers are Neat!
Part Two
19 July 2008
Some of the most fascinating engineering you will ever see in any city, modern or ancient, are it’s waterworks. How fresh water comes in and “waste” water goes out to be treated (or disposed off ) is one of the greatest untold stories of the development of any civilization. Those of you who think I am over stating the case, try living without a modern waterworks system for even a day.
There are others too who take various situations not only in stride, but to advantage. This is a true story, the man told here about being dead some years now. A local plumber and a good Irishman (which, being of the clan O’Neil myself, I feel qualified to make comment on), specialized in cleaning out backed up sewers. It is my understanding that the man had either a very poor sense of smell, or perhaps none at all, although how he came to this condition I do not know. I knew this man personally, but it is a tale my father relates to me I tell you know.
A small apartment building, perhaps 4-5 floors high above ground, had roughly 4 feet of sewage in the basement and it was filling even higher. With hindsight it was found that at some point one tenant had flushed a disposable diaper down the toilet, and this had clogged the main sewer pipe out of the building, causing the backup. People in the building, either in ignorance or the event, or perhaps in spite of it, continued to use sinks and toilets, so the result was, well, how does one describe the situation in polite terms.
The plumber, or the “Turd Man” as some called him, not without some affection, was wearing high waders, not unlike what you see some fisherman in rivers & streams wearing, and he was wading slowly though the foulness with a large smile on his face. My father said he looked up at him, and with one of the biggest grins he ever saw on any man at any time, said to my dad:
“Gold, gold, gold! People think this is terrible stuff, but to me it’s pure gold, and you know what?” The plumber pointed a finger up to the apartments above. “They’re going to pay me pure gold to clean it up and take it out of here too!”
If you are Irish or of Irish decent, odds are you are laughing very hard. The rest of you are likely wondering what the point is. Knowing first hand that the Irish have the finest sense of humour ever seen on God’s good Earth, I feel sorry for the rest of you. :)
The other point I want to raise before I move on is at one point, and perhaps even today, our city has some of the largest sewer rats any municipality in Canada or perhaps even in the world has ever seen. I am not sure if the term “sewer rat” has any scientific merit on it’s own, but I use it in the context of a rat that spends it’s lifetime in a sewer, regardless if it has any physical charateristics different from it other rats.
The specific reason for this is twofold. First, many if not all of the downtown restaurants used to flush plate scrapings down the drain. Not all food went this way, as there are many, many stories of people who would save larger, untouched portions and feed the homeless this way, although it is my understanding that modern health rules and regulations have put a stop to this practice many years ago. However the scrapings down the drain were recycled by the resident rat population.
Now the second part is the interesting one. Many buildings in downtown London were, and still are to this day, heated by steam. A central heating plant, which once stood at Queen’s avenue near Talbot St., operating under the name “Cities Heating” at one point, supplied steam heat to many large and small businesses in the core of London by underground steam pipes. Today the same steam heat comes form the plant at Colborne Street, west side, just south of the train tracks. But the point is, these underground steam pipes had the effect, unintentional of course, of keeping many underground sewers warm and cozy for our rats, even through the harshest winters. Now you know why they tended to stay underground. Although sometimes prone to exaggeration, such as telling a big fish tale, I still heard enough stories about rats and the sewers underground from various city workers over the years to give a healthy does of respect to those who travel through the hidden tunnels of our city, keeping everything free and clear.
End of part two, part three I’ll get to the point of the story. :)
later
Part Two
19 July 2008
Some of the most fascinating engineering you will ever see in any city, modern or ancient, are it’s waterworks. How fresh water comes in and “waste” water goes out to be treated (or disposed off ) is one of the greatest untold stories of the development of any civilization. Those of you who think I am over stating the case, try living without a modern waterworks system for even a day.
There are others too who take various situations not only in stride, but to advantage. This is a true story, the man told here about being dead some years now. A local plumber and a good Irishman (which, being of the clan O’Neil myself, I feel qualified to make comment on), specialized in cleaning out backed up sewers. It is my understanding that the man had either a very poor sense of smell, or perhaps none at all, although how he came to this condition I do not know. I knew this man personally, but it is a tale my father relates to me I tell you know.
A small apartment building, perhaps 4-5 floors high above ground, had roughly 4 feet of sewage in the basement and it was filling even higher. With hindsight it was found that at some point one tenant had flushed a disposable diaper down the toilet, and this had clogged the main sewer pipe out of the building, causing the backup. People in the building, either in ignorance or the event, or perhaps in spite of it, continued to use sinks and toilets, so the result was, well, how does one describe the situation in polite terms.
The plumber, or the “Turd Man” as some called him, not without some affection, was wearing high waders, not unlike what you see some fisherman in rivers & streams wearing, and he was wading slowly though the foulness with a large smile on his face. My father said he looked up at him, and with one of the biggest grins he ever saw on any man at any time, said to my dad:
“Gold, gold, gold! People think this is terrible stuff, but to me it’s pure gold, and you know what?” The plumber pointed a finger up to the apartments above. “They’re going to pay me pure gold to clean it up and take it out of here too!”
If you are Irish or of Irish decent, odds are you are laughing very hard. The rest of you are likely wondering what the point is. Knowing first hand that the Irish have the finest sense of humour ever seen on God’s good Earth, I feel sorry for the rest of you. :)
The other point I want to raise before I move on is at one point, and perhaps even today, our city has some of the largest sewer rats any municipality in Canada or perhaps even in the world has ever seen. I am not sure if the term “sewer rat” has any scientific merit on it’s own, but I use it in the context of a rat that spends it’s lifetime in a sewer, regardless if it has any physical charateristics different from it other rats.
The specific reason for this is twofold. First, many if not all of the downtown restaurants used to flush plate scrapings down the drain. Not all food went this way, as there are many, many stories of people who would save larger, untouched portions and feed the homeless this way, although it is my understanding that modern health rules and regulations have put a stop to this practice many years ago. However the scrapings down the drain were recycled by the resident rat population.
Now the second part is the interesting one. Many buildings in downtown London were, and still are to this day, heated by steam. A central heating plant, which once stood at Queen’s avenue near Talbot St., operating under the name “Cities Heating” at one point, supplied steam heat to many large and small businesses in the core of London by underground steam pipes. Today the same steam heat comes form the plant at Colborne Street, west side, just south of the train tracks. But the point is, these underground steam pipes had the effect, unintentional of course, of keeping many underground sewers warm and cozy for our rats, even through the harshest winters. Now you know why they tended to stay underground. Although sometimes prone to exaggeration, such as telling a big fish tale, I still heard enough stories about rats and the sewers underground from various city workers over the years to give a healthy does of respect to those who travel through the hidden tunnels of our city, keeping everything free and clear.
End of part two, part three I’ll get to the point of the story. :)
later
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