Posted by John Gonzalez Whether America is celebrating its founding fathers or its independence, we ask a question about one item most of us are quite dependent upon today: What were toilets like in 1776? To understand the privies of the day, it’s best to look at the entire state of sanitation overall...
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Posted by Jared Shepherd 
Turns out this viral list of 1915 “facts” rounding out 2015 is actually a fake, filled with untruths and misleading statements. But FWIW, it turns out the few about water are indeed true. Gizmodo’s Factually posted a breakdown of the list, a graphic that has made its internet rounds...
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If you are making education part of your 2016 resolutions, this is one event you won’t want to miss. Sewer University presents you with a simple history and future of clean water in the Cleveland area, and the next session is scheduled for January 26 in Cuyahoga Heights. You...
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We’re hosting our first-ever Sewer University (SewerU) presentation to a capacity crowd of nearly 120 guests on November 10, and if you haven’t registered, you’ll be able to follow the discussion on Twitter @neorsd #SewerU. The goal is to bring the underground and often misunderstood sewer network and its...
Read More Posted by Jared Shepherd The melodious tones of James Earl Jones’ golden pipes grace the narration track of this Cuyahoga River documentary from 1978. This clip features JEJ reading text from an infamous Time Magazine article that followed the 1969 river fire. (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s); if (d.getElementById(id))...
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VIEW THE SLIDEDECK. If you missed it, you can register for our next SewerU January 26. All participants graduate sewer cum laude with a Business major and a minor in puns. Have you ever wondered where “it” goes in Northeast Ohio? If so, register for our first ever Sewer...
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By U.S. Congress via Wikimedia Commons Congressman Louis Stokes was known for many things. While his actions to protect clean water may not be one of them, it should be. Congressman Stokes, who passed away Tuesday after a battle with cancer, was pivotal in securing Federal funding...
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Two men wearing life jackets on a small boat on Lake Erie, 1976. Both the boat and the men are covered in oil polluting Lake Erie. Image courtesy of Cleveland State University Library Division of Special Collections. When the oozing Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, consider that it...
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President Barack Obama addressed a crowd of 500 guests at the Global Center for Health and Innovation yesterday, focusing his remarks on the federal budget, middle-class economics and manufacturing opportunities. But both infrastructure and environmental regulation made it into the President’s comments as he welcomed questions from the audience...
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Image credit Neptuul via wikipedia Because we know you’ve been wondering, it was all Seth’s idea. The concept of rolled and perforated squares of toilet paper was patented in 1883 by Seth Wheeler. Prior to Seth’s innovation, toilet paper was sold commercially as flat sheets starting around 1857 thanks...
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