Much better than the usual offerings.

I worked for Anglian Water for 15 odd years in the "lumpy water" side doing mech and elec maintenance from the late 1970's. I watched the program last night and it bought back many memories!…pity there is no smelly vision!

Get that black sludge on your hands and you couldn't get rid of the smell despite washing your hands loads of time….only way we could eat our sandwiches at lunch time was put aftershave on our hands…looking back believe it or not it was a great job!

Interesting for me was that the actual process is still unchanged from when I worked for AW 40 odd years ago…

Regards to all

Derek

I am looking forward to watching a recording of it tonight. I believe there are some good programmes on the TV.

JA

The Victorian pumping engines at Crossness are being restored slowly but it’s a fascinating visit. I went with a group from the Institute of Physics London &South East Retired Members Section. The visitor centre has a great exhibition and a Café. Well worth going if one has the chance.

The Victorian plan was to store the sewage collected by the main Southern sewer in large underground tanks and then pump it all out into the Thames at low tide!!

MC

For anyone not in the UK and can't get iPlayer "The Secret Science of Sewage" is on Youtube:

The Secret Science of Sewage

Russell

Thanks Michael and V8. I think these programmes should be made compulsory viewing for all schoolchildren. And adults.

Rob

I didn't see the programme and have no TV but I fear from the occasions I have seen documentaries on technical subjects, anything beyond the producer's or presenter's immediate comprehension is discreetly ignored; and any stretching the viewer intellectually is to be avoided.

I can understand not showing what happens when things go wrong though. The water company involved was probably very nervous of showing that thing can and do go wrong. We are engineers – we know they can and do; but I fear most of the public, the Press and politicians are not and do not. They imagine you just Create a Policy, press [Enter] and Hey Presto! all complete, fully-working and any breakdown is automatically by fault of the Chairman and the lowest-paid staff-member.

The lack of showing the tight environmental control though, seems suspicious. Could be just typical media-studies ignorance as above, but perhaps the documentary company wanted to make viewers think it does not take place.

That first "no mention" though reminds me of a major repair of a local sewer years ago now. The poor blokes working in a pit several feet deep, in thick, sticky clay mixed with a good deal of pink-flecked cess, were probably accustomed to it, but certainly earned their money.

Must look this up. I've been to Minworth WTW several times for meetings with STW in previous jobs.

And other sites… I remember one chap telling me the first stage of (storm drain) sewage processing is the coarse screen to remove prams, dogs etc. These had to be replaced every so often after filtering out tree trunks.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 21/03/2021 17:20:12

The firm I work for (ABC Stainless) were contracted to supply and install alot of the pipework there about 6 or 7 years ago during an expansion project.