Where does all the water go?

[RougeUnderoos]

To a few of you tall-foreheads, this may seem like a dumb question, but I'm guessing there are a few other folks out there in internetland who are in the same boat as me, and that boat is called The SS I Don't Know Where All The Water Goes.

I was strolling around this afternoon and I walked past dozens of sewer grates that had water gushing down. There must be thousands of these things all over the city, and everyone of them probably was doing the same thing. That's an awful lot of water pouring into *somehere* and I don't know where it goes.

Oh I know vaguely that some of it ends up in the reservoir and some ends up in the river (or I think I know) but really, that's about it, and hell, it might not even be true.

Either way though it must all pour out of the system at some place or other. Where is that place? Are there a bunch of them? Is the whole thing connected? Does the water from Queensland ever meet up with the water from Kingsland?

Does anyone know anything about the storm sewer system (if that is even what it is called)?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Pretty sure none of the sewers run into Glenmore, that's our drinking water!

I believe the sewer system is split up into grids and sent to various water treatment plants in the city.

Others are bound to know more than I though.

[Locke]

Your house.

[troutman]

That last glass of water tasted a little nutty.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Pretty sure none of the sewers run into Glenmore, that's our drinking water!

I believe the sewer system is split up into grids and sent to various water treatment plants in the city.

Others are bound to know more than I though.

Thanks. That makes sense.

I didn't mean that the sewers run directly into the reservoir, but that much of the water ends up there eventually. Just seems like an awful lot of water in a short amount of time and I can't imagine they treat all of it. I'm thinking it must be "released" somewhere other than into treatment plants. Maybe not though.

[CaptainCrunch]

Right into the bottled water plant at the edge of town.

[BlackArcher101]

As far as I know, storm sewers are untreated and go straight to the river or overflow basins.

[StoneCole]

...in a lot of the older inner city neighbourhoods it goes directly to the river, or else to one of the treatment plants. In most newer neighborhoods it is taken to a pond or wetland or some other place where it can sit and let the crap settle out...and then on to the river...never to a treatment plant from the newer neighbourhoods though

[Stillman16]

http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server....age+System.htm

Take a look at this link from the city website.

For the record, storm sewers and wastewater collection lines DO NOT connect, other than overflows.

Storm water goes directly tio the nearest creek or river, which is why one should watch what they allow to run into the sewers!

There are also pages on the city site for the drinking water and wastewater treatment processes for those interested.

[ZDogg]

All storm water goes to one of the following:
-River
-Wet Pond (your local community lake)
-Dry Pond (a place like soccer fields that are built at a lower grade).

I have also heard of some underground storage areas (16th Ave East) where storm water can be contained for a period of time...

The city has over the past 10 years introduced these things called ICDs - Inlet Control Devices which help backup some of the water in the catch basin (grated drains) so all the water isnt flowing to the river/pond at the same time causing a flood. There are also things called Trap Lows which are lowers areas on the road network that are designed to collect ponding water in the event of a major storm.

Hope thats the info you were looking for.

[I_am_Beast]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

As far as I know, storm sewers are untreated and go straight to the river or overflow basins.

yup!

[burn_this_city]

This thread title reminded me of that Family Guy where Adam West spends all that city money trying to figure out who's stealing his water.

Storm sewer water runs into the Bow, at least from my community in the south.

[Barnes]

Stand by the river outlets downtown when it rains and count cigarette buts that flow into the river. Gross.

That's why I snuff and throw in the trash. A few ashtrays here and there would be nice.

[Bobblehead]

And then there is my office building, where they just discovered the plumbers screwed up when it was built (in 1981) and has been dumping some grey water into the storm sewers ever since.

[Stillman16]

Some may think, Gross that's in the river that supplies our drinking water, but consider the communities upstream of our Water Treatment Plants, some of which discharge treated wastewater back to the same water sources!

Also consider the communities downstream of the Bonnybrook wastewater plant!

[Hack&Lube]

It goes to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

[gottabekd]

Related: Does the water from my shower and toilet go to the same place? It is a different system, no? Would water from my shower be "grey water" and toilet "sewage"?

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by gottabekd

Related: Does the water from my shower and toilet go to the same place? It is a different system, no? Would water from my shower be "grey water" and toilet "sewage"?

Its goes to the same place.

[Cube Inmate]

Originally Posted by gottabekd

Related: Does the water from my shower and toilet go to the same place? It is a different system, no? Would water from my shower be "grey water" and toilet "sewage"?

Yes, it's perfectly acceptable to pee in your shower. Pulling a George Costanza, though, is probably not acceptable.

[ricosuave]

Glad to see some very informed people here.