What We Find in the Sewers

Posted4 months agoActive4 months ago

surprisetalk

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Delving into the hidden world beneath our feet, a recent article sparked a lively discussion about what lies within the sewers. Commenters took a humorous turn, with some joking about Ninja Turtles and C.H.U.D, while others shared their fascination with YouTubers who explore sewer systems, like a Czech explorer who ventures into Brno's vast trunk sewers. The conversation also touched on the unexpected items found in sewers, from cocaine in Zürich's sewers to tree roots and tampons clogging Australian pipes. As commenters geeked out over remnants of the past, like ancient barge mooring rings, the thread revealed a captivating mix of curiosity and gross fascination with the underground world.

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Discussion (32 comments)

Showing 32 comments

bediger4000

4 months ago

1 reply

Don't miss footnote 5

LargoLasskhyfv

4 months ago

The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinoline as early porta potty :>

alakra

4 months ago

1 reply

I was slightly hoping this was a piece about ninja turtles.

LargoLasskhyfv

4 months ago

1 reply

Try https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.H.U.D. instead.

southernplaces7

4 months ago

Absolute favorite of a B movie, and today something of a historical gem too, showing a grimy, grim Manhattan underworld (literally) that's long gone, or at least more hidden than ever.

cruffle_duffle

4 months ago

3 replies

There are surprisingly few YouTubers down in the sewers but if you look you’ll find them.

The best is some guy in Czechia who routinely explores the vast trunk sewers under Brno, Prague and others. Often times he will visit during a rain storm and watch the combined sewer overflows do their thing. It gets pretty wild down there!

Up until about a year ago it was all in Czech but recently he has been adding English subtitles as well, which are very informative. The dude clearly does a lot of homework before visiting.

Examples: https://youtu.be/GQtzYgH8buc?si=IldzL7KEEhdObjtJ

https://youtu.be/ZUwXZbkEXWE?si=UmzGMbHXSQAt6hjx

And one of my personal favorites is this absolutely massive CSO which somehow has a plaque memorializing some civil engineer on one of the walls: https://youtu.be/5LVlj-6qwZU?si=lwMdKgVrA7BRuvt2

I highly recommend browsing the channel because there are plenty of videos of him exploring deep sewer tunnels and stuff. Channel: https://youtube.com/@kanalismus35

The other guy I’ll watch goes under London. Not nearly as much content but the “artisan brickwork” down in older London sewers cannot be beat.

https://youtube.com/@valdigger

You’ll occasionally find videos of people going into storm drains and tunnels but those aren’t nearly as interesting in my opinion.

filiptw

4 months ago

Hey, I'm quite into the topic of sewer systems exploration (especially the older, historical ones) for a few years now, and this is the first time I'm seeing a question like yours, so I feel obliged to share all the sources I have found.

general disclaimer: following sources are in various languages, but I'm still including them, since the videos don't have much talking in them, and you can easily translate blog sources.

1) Youtube: I know both Kanalismus35 and valdigger, and they are both the best, most in-depth as well as possibly the only real Youtubers in the sewers topic. However, there are at least a few more:

- https://www.youtube.com/@zemi02 - yet another creator from Czechia, Brno exploring bits and pieces of the sewer infrastructure, maybe not so refined as @kanalismus35 but worth checking out as well

- https://www.youtube.com/@KanalVision - from Germany, not much context or inisght given but still nice shots of huge sewers

- https://www.youtube.com/@penetratorscavenger/ - from Poland, Warsaw, they do urbex in general, but also go deep into historical sewers in Warsaw. Examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGcou71yKoU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVOVmXZLE6c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZJ0L3DPAFc

2) Websites/blogs

- https://guerrillaexploring.webador.co.uk/content/draining - from England, London, incredibly in-depth context, knowledge and exploration of legendary London sewers - an absolute must read & see if you are into the topic

- https://penetratorscavengerteam.blogspot.com/search/label/ka... - from Poland, Warsaw, already mentioned before, they have much more thorough and in-depth content about Warsaw sweres with tons of photos on their blog than on yt. Just install a web page translation browser extension and you are good to go

- https://www.sub-urban.com - specifically about London, also a great, in-depth source

- https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forum/uk-draining-forum.94/ of course this one for all of UK

Summing up, I know I went quite a bit off-topic here, but I hope I helped a bit regarding youtube sources as well. Also happy to get to know any other Youtubers doing some proper exploration.

snarf21

4 months ago

There are quite a few who work specifically at unblocking the sewers (and a lot in Australia for some reason). Mostly they find tree roots but tampons and wipes are the other major culprits that they have to remove. These plus the roots are a bad combination.

dcminter

4 months ago

I might have to watch the London one - my mind was blown a few years ago to learn that in the Fleet River sewer (storm drain really) you can still see the barge mooring rings from before the river was paved over in the mid-1700s.

ProllyInfamous

4 months ago

3 replies

I spent the first six months of my apprenticeship working in lift stations ("lift" poop up every mile or so, so gravity can keep sludge moving").

The item missing from the article that disgusted me most was the massive amount of tampons which found themselves ejected from the semi-solid pumps. From afar, they appear to be a moat of dead mice. It was literally somebody's job to shovel these up, as nothing more than routine.

Who is still tossing these/trash into toilets?

SoftTalker

4 months ago

2 replies

> Who is still tossing these/trash into toilets?

Most women who use them? Sit down, pull it out, drop it, flush. It's the easiest thing.

ProllyInfamous

4 months ago

3 replies

Please use (or provide) the little trashcan that ought'ta sit next to any toilet.

This "simple" action far exceeds half of sewage maintenance budgets.

Only flush TP, liquids, and poop — does not matter if sewer / septic.

Src: former sewer pump repair guy; have had a $eptic $ystem ruined by gue$t tampon$.

quesera

4 months ago

1 reply

It's a classic problem of externalized consequences. But with the added challenge that the action happens in a very private place.

Also, this tends to be a topic where the actor has a dramatically negative interest in suggestions from the person who will have to deal with the problem.

Nevertheless, septic fields cost $20-30K, and municipal sewer management is also very expensive.

Aside (but not far): Someone should honestly bring litigation against the wipes that call themselves flushable.

ProllyInfamous

4 months ago

>wipes that call themselves flushable

There is no such product, despite many such packaging claims.

>the person who will have to deal with the problem

Plumbers will always have work, but there may be environmental consequences in the interim:

I renovated a small garage apartment, located in the wealthiest part of town (Lookout Mountain). The property had been owned by the same family since the 1930s, and was home of the same heir since the early 1990s (until renovated ~2022).

After the historic toilet/flange rusted out, Heir lived their for another thirty years squatting into a hole that dropped down into a bucket (in the garage, below). He would then run off into the forest to dump the poop, once festidiously heaping. As he aged, the loads got smaller and smaller (until one day he just decided to stop emptying it, until quickly thereafter Going Home, thank god / RIP).

Millions and millions of dollars in neighboring properties, and this legacy of the mountain was contributing his own surface run-off into Poopy Falls' tributaries (Ruby Falls, which is an underground waterfall made up of recycled septic field line water of the affluent mountaintop community, above). Just a surface stream of solid effluent / shit.

>Nevertheless, septic fields cost $20-30K

That's if you're under ideal conditions. Some situations (e.g. hillside) can quickly approach $100k+.

deadbabe

4 months ago

No.

kulahan

4 months ago

This requires a PSA, not internet comments. And honestly, I imagine people are willing to pay the extra maintenance dollars to not have to take that extra step. We all appreciate some kind of convenience.

throwway120385

4 months ago

1 reply

Sometimes they just fall out.

quesera

4 months ago

... and if that were the scale of the problem, it would not be one. :)

sho_hn

4 months ago

1 reply

Maybe I have a particularly florid imagination, but it's hard to believe that tampons would be the most digusting thing found in sewers. I mean, they rank far below even just fecal matter on the icky scale.

My anticipation for shock and & are for clicking this thread is so far not met.

ProllyInfamous

4 months ago

Poop doesn't really exist very long. Neither does toilet paper. Mostly, it amalgamates into "sludge."

Tampons don't succumb to the namesake maserators, and are instead ejected (there is a foreign debris port for anything that doesn't drip out centrifugally).

Within the darker corners of sewerlines you find the fat plaques, which are disgusting (but pass through the pumps in smaller pieces). But...

Tampons everywhere. There's even moats to catch 'em all.

wodenokoto

4 months ago

1 reply

I believe a lot of them still says “flushable”, even though the plumber disagrees.

ProllyInfamous

4 months ago

>"flushable"

There is no such product, despite many such packaging claims.

Other non-flushables: condoms; cigarette (& so many clear wrappers!); candy wrappers; tampons.

jjwiseman

4 months ago

1 reply

I talked to a woman who worked for the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power (LADWP) at a party once and she told me about some of the things they find in the sewers. The ones I remember are tampons, a dead horse, and money.

asdff

4 months ago

One wonders about the circumstances of a horse dying in a sewer. There is tons of illegal dumping plaguing the LA sewer system. From a 2021 sewer discharge event brought on by a clog basically:

"Plant Manager Tim Dafeta said on Tuesday that the July 11 sewage spill was caused when significant quantities of debris blocked the Plant's filtering screens, mostly "everyday mundane trash," including wipes, but also construction material and other large debris like bike parts and couches also played a role in the spill.

LASAN Chief Operating Officer Traci Minamide also said that: "Initial theories are potential areas within the sewer where we have structures such as diversion structures of siphons of broad structures, something different than the normal straight-line type that could have caused some hangup of debris and some buildup over time that then on July, 11 let loose.""

https://www.westsidecurrent.com/news/one-month-zero-answers-...

araes

4 months ago

1 reply

After reading the article, be interesting to see an academic study exhaustively cataloguing the chemical compounds found in sewer systems that might be possible mining targets and issues to deal with.

"We took 1000 samples from the sewers at various locations, at 1/10 gallon increments, 100 gallons total, and found: H2S, H2SO4, HS⁻, S²⁻, NH3, CH4, CO2, CHCl3, CH3Cl, CCl2F2, C6H4Cl2, C2H6O, CH2Cl2, C5H12, C3H8, C2Cl4, C2HCl3, C6H5CH3, C8H10, PO4-P, H5P3O10, H3PO4, PO3−, and C10H15N5O10P2 of #% and ug/m3 in gaseous, liquid, solid forms. Percentage of low degradability human products (wipes, tampons, plastic bags, wrappers) were #%, ug/m3. Percentages of oil / grease / and solidified food waste were #%, ug/m3."

There's a few papers on a quick search:

Sulphur: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03014...

VOCs: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03043...

Phosphorous: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S22133...

gilleain

4 months ago

1 reply

Most of those are small molecules, so nearly unambiguous (C2H6O is either ethanol or dimethylether).

However, C10H15N5O10P2 is more tricky. A quick google suggests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine_diphosphate (ADP) which seems plausible.

araes

4 months ago

You're correct on at least where the guess about possible chemicals came from. Search on possible phosphorous chemicals came back with Polyphosphates (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphosphate) as a major group, of which ADP (C10H15N5O10P2) is a major percentage. Polyphosphates in addition to Organic Phosphorous (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organophosphorus_chemistry) and Orthophosphate [PO4]3− (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate) as the other major constituents.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S22133...

A further search brought up that that Chinese found Apatite phosphorous is actually a major part. Triangular admixture of Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, Ca10(PO4)6F2 and Ca10(PO4)6Cl2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatite

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09560...

BrandoElFollito

4 months ago

If you are in Paris you can visit the sewers (https://musee-egouts.paris.fr/en/). It is surprisingly entertaining.

yehoshuapw

4 months ago

what you get out of it, depends on what you put into it

Nifty3929

4 months ago

comrade1234

4 months ago

Here in Zürich? Mostly cocaine...