HISTORY: Barrels of alcohol down the sewers? Looking back at 1919 #Prohibition and environmental effects

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 10212 Views
• January 16th, 2015
• in Miscellaneous
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Image courtesy Library of Congress Happy anniversary! On this date in 1919, America officially became a “dry” country as prohibition became the law of the land. Following the ratification of the 18th amendment, there was a whole lotta alcohol that needed to be disposed of around the country, and...

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HISTORY: Big balls were used to clear sewers of the 1870s

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 5746 Views
• September 23rd, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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The sewer ball on a vintage postcard. Via delcampe.net Now that’s old school. Cleaning sewers in Paris in the 1870s literally required rolling giant balls of wood and iron through the tunnels. Atlas Obscura recently posted a story about the history of the world-famous sewer network under Paris, France,...

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HISTORY: What were toilets like in 1776?

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 3882 Views
• July 1st, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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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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VIDEO: James Earl Jones describes the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire [#Cuyahoga45]

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 14582 Views
• June 19th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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In this clip from a 1978 documentary, Cuyahoga, James Earl Jones’ booming voice tells the tale of the famous 1969 Cuyahoga River fire that turned national attention on the state of our environment and inspired action in Northeast Ohio and far beyond.

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HISTORY: How a dying river saved our lives.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4932 Views
• June 12th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
• 3 Comments

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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#TBT: They don’t make garden hose advertisements like this anymore.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 3705 Views
• April 17th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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In 1914, Australians apparently took their yard work very seriously. This ad for Dunlop Garden Hoses as seen on Wikipedia takes us back to a different time in fashion. But it also reminds us of two points relevant today. First, if you have a lawn or garden and water...

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INFOGRAPHIC: Fossilized feces? What dinosaurs left behind still fascinates. #DinoDoo

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4370 Views
• February 12th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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Haplocanthosaurus skeletal mount at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Scott Robert Anselmo via Wikipedia. In our business, there is much to talk about when it comes to our “business.” Our bodily functions and trips to the bathroom every day account for much of the flow we treat and...

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GREEN: Our Project Clean Lake agreement was groundbreaking, and here are 7 reasons why.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4467 Views
• January 30th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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Project Clean Lake was a groundbreaking agreement in 2010 when we signed it, making our 25-year program to reduce pollution in Lake Erie official. A lot has happened in the last four years and our consent decree is still a groundbreaking agreement for the region and clean-water agencies across...

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HISTORY: Why are tunnel boring machines named, and why are they named after women?

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4856 Views
• December 13th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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Yesterday, our tunnel boring machine Mackenzie—who has been disassembled for more than a month but keeps right on tweeting—received a great question from a follower: Are all tunnel boring machines named after women? Why?@MomChungtheTBM @BerthaDigsSR99 @BigAlmatheTBM @LadyBirdTBM @MackenzieTBM — Kimble McCraw (@kimblem) December 12, 2013 With a little help...

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VIDEO: 1928 school film shares how to treat sewage, how to set rat traps, and how not to catch malaria, typhoid, or the bubonic plague

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 3688 Views
• December 5th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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Throwback Thursday is an opportunity to harken back to a time when we used the words “hence” and “typhoid” in daily American conversation. The 4-minute clip above is from a 20-minute 1928 educational silent film called “Health and Hygiene” which focused on the causes of common diseases and their...

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