Why Sewers Around the World Keep Overflowing

Find out more about our sewers from the In Deep podcast at https://www.indeep.org.

The old combined sewer systems of many major cities are no match for modern storms and impermeable surfaces.

Thanks also to our Patreon patrons https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth and our YouTube members.
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To learn more, start your googling with these keywords:
Combined Sewer System: Sewers designed to collect domestic sewage and storm runoff in the same wastewater pipe.
Wastewater Treatment Plant: A facility that filters and cleans wastewater before sending it into nearby waterways.
Combined Sewer Overflow: When the wastewater in a combined sewer system exceeds a certain limit, it bypasses the wastewater treatment plant and goes directly into nearby waterways.
Extreme Rainfall: Storms that cause the wettest days of the year in a particular geographic area.
Invasive Species: Any kind of organism that gets introduced to a new environment and causes harm.
Deep Tunnel Project: A $3 billion civil engineering megaproject designed to reduce flooding in the metropolitan Chicago area.
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer, Narrator, and Video Director: David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg)
Video Illustrator: Arcadi Garcia Rius (@garirius)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich, Julin Gmez, Kate Yoshida, Sarah Berman

Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
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References:

Tibbets, J. (2005). Combined Sewer Systems: Down, Dirty, and Out of Date. Environmental Health Perspectives. 113(7): A464A467. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1257666/.

Olds HT, Corsi SR, Dila DK, Halmo KM, Bootsma MJ, McLellan SL. (2018). High levels of sewage contamination released from urban areas after storm events: A quantitative survey with sewage specific bacterial indicators. PLoS Med. 15(7): e1002614. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002614.

Walsh, J., D. Wuebbles, K. Hayhoe, J. Kossin, K. Kunkel, G. Stephens, P. Thorne, R. Vose, M. Wehner, J. Willis, D. Anderson, S. Doney, R. Feely, P. Hennon, V. Kharin, T. Knutson, F. Landerer, T. Lenton, J. Kennedy, and R. Somerville. (2014) Ch. 2: Our Changing Climate. Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment, J. M. Melillo, Terese (T.C.) Richmond, and G. W. Yohe, Eds., U.S. Global Change Research Program, 19-67. Retrieved from: https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate/heavy-downpours-increasing

Melosi, Martin. (2000). The Sanitary City: Urban Infrastructure in America from Colonial Times to the Present. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Grabar, Henry. (2019). Tunnel Vision. Slate. Retrieved from: https://slate.com/business/2019/01/chicagos-deep-tunnel-is-it-the-solution-to-urban-flooding-or-a-cautionary-tale.html