ALGAE: Meet Annie, Fannie, and Mike. They’re toxic. #LEcaucus

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 6272 Views
• August 18th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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Keep it simple. And use cartoons if possible. When explaining a difficult and often technical subject like toxic algae threatening the future of Lake Erie, simplicity goes a long way helping increase both awareness and understanding. Our hat’s off to Toledo Blade‘s Tom Henry for helping explain the problem...

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ALGAE: 5 things you should know before Friday’s state Lake Erie algae meeting

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 5176 Views
• August 13th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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Collecting beach water quality samples at Villa Angela Beach in Cleveland. Since State Senator Randy Gardner and Representative Chris Redfern are hosting a special meeting of the Lake Erie Legislative Caucus this Friday—focusing on algae problems plaguing the lake and, most recently, the Toledo area’s drinking water—here are 5...

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LIST: 7 ways back-to-school jitters are like treating wastewater

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4769 Views
• August 13th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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Parents, it’s that time of year again. And we can make a few connections between our work and your kids’ first-day jitters that you might not have expected. Class is in session. 1. Sure maybe it stinks, but where would you be without it? OK, the end of summer...

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VIDEO: Want to know how sewage plants manage algae-causing phosphorus? Here’s the only 1-minute video you need.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 5055 Views
• August 5th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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A major contributor to toxic algae threatening Lake Erie is phosphorus, a key component of agricultural fertilizers and a building block of life itself. While most of it flows to the lake from stormwater runoff, wastewater plants must monitor and manage phosphorus as it makes its way through the...

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HEALTH: Coffee, your colon, and how your brew affects your morning movement

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 7044 Views
• July 20th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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The blunt but apparently popular question—”Why does coffee make me poop?”—makes its round on common news and health websites. There seems to be agreement that caffeine and other substances from the brew do often get our colonic muscles going, generating a reaction in our bodies similar to eating a...

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WATCH: Soar high above the beautiful complexity of the wastewater treatment process

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4377 Views
• July 16th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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While snapping some new aerial photographs for an upcoming publication, photographer J. Quinn let the video camera roll providing us some great footage of our largest treatment plant, Southerly in Cuyahoga Heights.

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HISTORY: What were toilets like in 1776?

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 5436 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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WEIRD: Making sense of the smells of wastewater treatment [#cwc5K]

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 7418 Views
• June 13th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
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If you thought the smell of victory was unique, you’ve never visited a wastewater treatment plant. Our Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center is hosting the Clean Water Classic 5K run/walk for charity this Saturday, so all of our guests will have a chance to smell both. It has raised some...

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HISTORY: How a dying river saved our lives.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 6854 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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LOOK: What a 5K course through a wastewater treatment plant looks like. #cwc5K

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 5140 Views
• June 9th, 2014
• in Miscellaneous
• No Comments

If you’ve ever wondered… what the inside of a 288-acre wastewater treatment plant looks like, or what the five-kilometer course will be like for our Clean Water Classic 5K charity run/walk this weekend, or where you can listen to Bonnie Tyler’s Holding out for a hero to pump you...

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