ExiledInIllinois Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 http://www.usatoday....-lakes/2598135/ Time to give up your exfoliant and the toothpaste! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 There are natural products that should biodegrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 There are natural products that should biodegrade. Yeah... I think what they are really pointing to are those "microbeads" used in products. Can't blame us in the Chicago area... @ least we flush it towards St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, & The Gulf! It passes and filters through 3 people before it reaches the ocean! ;-) ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 That will be the site of the new Bills floating stadium. And if they don't make the playoffs we let 'em go over the Falls! PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 That will be the site of the new Bills floating stadium. And if they don't make the playoffs we let 'em go over the Falls! PTR Just don't do it before May or the boom will catch them and we will be stuck with the rotting stench! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 http://www.usatoday....-lakes/2598135/ Time to give up your exfoliant and the toothpaste! Can't we just let the Asian carp eat it? I hear they eat anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 Can't we just let the Asian carp eat it? I hear they eat anything. Better yet, what better place to catch it than by The Falls? Every drop of water in Lake Erie leaves Lake Erie in about 10 years. Could be big business for WNY... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Yeah... I think what they are really pointing to are those "microbeads" used in products. Can't blame us in the Chicago area... @ least we flush it towards St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, & The Gulf! It passes and filters through 3 people before it reaches the ocean! ;-) ;-) So no treated water from Chicago goes back out to the lake? This is making me even less interested in ever touching the water of the Chicago river.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Maybe we could turn the old Bethlehem site into a LEGO factory? A Win-Win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) So no treated water from Chicago goes back out to the lake? This is making me even less interested in ever touching the water of the Chicago river.. Why would you want that water going to Lake Michigan? The Lake is a more fragile environment! Especially this end of Lake Michigan! Water only leaves due north Lake Michigan and then down Lake Huron past Detroit and into Lake Erie. That is almost a 1,000 miles with residence times on Lake Michigan being 100 years and Lake Huron being 20 years. That is a bigger yuck factor! Old stereotype you are expressing, just like my wise crack about flowing through 3 people. Chicago is a more controlled environment than polluting (that is what it is, nothing is ever 100% clean) the whole lake and letting it swirl around like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, BFLO, and Toronto do. Only emergency overflows MAY possibly be thrown into the lake... Which, YUCK, may NOT be treated. For the past 40 years, Chicago has been building a "Deep Tunnel" to hold and store storm flows so as they can release it slowly downstream when the storm elevations (reverse flow out to the lake) lower. The Deep Tunnel, from what I hear is 300 feet below ground and is 20 wide... Consists of various underground holding reservoirs, which then treat and pump out after the storms. Last 40 years, there have been spurs built throughout the whole city... One of the latest (last decade, came online recently) has been south, runs from 92nd street on the lake to below the lock where the rez is... Water gets released into the lower pool after the storms and down the drain it goes to the Gulf. A mission that: 1. maintains sanitary balance 2. promotes flood control 3. creates cheap navigation/transportation systems that promote business/economic growth. 4. recreation and leisure. Basically the system is paying for itself through navigation. Actually, the navigation end is bought an paid for infrastructure. Many think that Chicago just dilutes the water and sends it down river across the continental divide... Not true ANYMORE. Yes, they dilute it like the old days BUT they also treat it. What they don't do is disinfect it... BUT that is coming down the pike. The Chicago Area Waterways (CAW's) is no different than the rest of the Great Lakes throwinig their treated water into the lake. Milwaukee is actually worse, since they throw it into Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan again, has a 100 year residence time. It is the other pollution that is thrown into the CAW's that is the problem and that has radically changed in the last 20-30 years... A river system that used to never freeze and could only sustain sludge worms is healthy again... Eagles even have made a comeback to the area, fish are thriving and the water is able to freeze a couple feet thick. I think what pisses other areas off is that Chicago is doing something good with its waterways. Asian carp would be a non-issue if the CAW's were even a little bit over the top polluted... They wouldn't get through... That is why some are suggesting creating a "dead zone" by pumping in nitrogen and making the water stagnant again... Instead, they aerate the water and add oxygen (the waterfalls and water cannons you see along the CAW's... And by running dam/locks)... Go figure! The Chicago River was just taken off the list of endangered rivers and the Grand River in Ohio (Lake Erie) put on... That has rankled some feathers with the main paradigm (outside of Illinois & Indiana) on the Great Lakes. Again... Be thankful that the TREATED water goes down river... We don't want to be Milwaukee or the rest of the Great Lakes and swim in the cess (which really isn't cess, sinice it is treated first). I do admit, Chicago needs to get on board with disninfection and not rely on dilution (again, other areas are using the lakes for dilution) and treatment alone... YET, that would add cost to doing business in Chicago. Believe it or not, because of this system, business costs that have been historically low compared to the rest of the lakes. A system that made Chicago and is still continuing to define Chicago's prominance in the world. Sorry... Do I sound like an ad for the Chamber of Commerce? Edited July 31, 2013 by ExiledInIllinois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 In the article, they have not studied Lake Michigan all that well... IMO, this floating plastic mass, very little of it is coming from Chicago given my explanation on how the CAW's works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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