Showing some respect for our environment

Ethic: Care of the Earth

Due to the heavy rains our original plan of cleaning up at the Whiteheads Creek bridge near St. Marys was a non-event. But that didn't stop us! We pick up this lot on the walk back, which was less than 1km.
I've always thought about getting involved in Clean Up Australia Day, but never managed to get around to it, until this year. I'd planned on join in the local Clean Up team at the Whiteheads Creek bridge near St Mary's with the family, but recent heavy rains have swollen the usually mellow creek to burst is banks a little further downstream. It wasn't a surprise to find that we were the only ones to turn up. But this didn't dishearten us at all, we brought some bags of own own and began cleaning up along the path that we took to get there. Within a couple of hundred metres we'd filled them, and so headed back home for a cuppa.
Kai and I returned with a wheelbarrow and his trolley to find that someone else had cleaned up a good portion of what we intended to, which brought a smile to my face. Nice to know that you are not alone. We still managed to fill the trolley and wheelbarrow above capacity on the way back. I was surprised at how little acknowledgement we got from passers by, as if we wern't even there. The were a few people who commented on how disgusting it was that 'they' made this mess, and one person who used the term 'we', rather than 'they'. I don't think this was because she felt she was at fault, but she was taking responsibility for the mess on behalf humanity as a whole. That's how I felt about it anyway.
So for about an hour and a half's work we managed to make a small part of our world a nicer place to live. And now, it doesn't seem so onerous to keep the path clean. We plan on doing a little it on each trek we make, and hope that other people feel okay about doing the same. Now we've got to get rid of our collection, so much for 'binimum' this year.

Principle 1: Observe and interact

Climate change is all about us experiencing more extreme events more often and the last couple of weeks has been a good example of that. We had a series of four very hot days (mid 30's) in late February that climaxed in a grass fire at Glenaroua near Seymour which used 25 trucks to contain it. On the 27th of February we received about 150mm in one day, with recordings of 170mm in other sites around town. I recorded 240mm of rain at our place in the past week, our average annual rainfall is just under 600mm. Our normally trickling creek filled up rather quickly and kept me on alert, but I didn't feel that the house was threatened.

Looking at the train line that runs over Whiteheads Creek from the Oak Street Bridge
Looking at the Oak Street Bridge from Abdallah Road, opposite our house
The heavy rains over this period has caused the ground water level to rise significantly, which has infiltrated into the cellar. The cellar has needed pumping out daily during this time, and it's become clear where water is entering. There's not that much I can do about water coming in from the cool tube, but I've marked the gaps in the mortar where water is breaking through the brickwork and will fill gaps with silicon when it dries out. I've done this before and it's been quite effective.
The sewer line that runs down the laneway near our house had so much excess water flowing through it that the manhole near our house was overflowing raw sewerage mixed with storm water into our drains and creek (see video below). This also happened during the big rains I spoke with the local water authority about the issue and our local manager told me that normally the nearby sewer pump works about 35lt per second. It couldn't keep up with inflows even though it was pumping at 160lt per second. That suggests to me that there are a number of houses in the area that have storm water connections directly into the sewer. The manager told me that the EPA has been informed, and that there are a number of points in Seymour with the same problem. He said that they'll take note, investigate further, but for me to realise that it's an ongoing job. It really is difficult to design systems for extreme events.

After the cellar was pumped out it became clear where water was entering

Ground water leaching through gaps in the cool tube pipe that runs from the cellar up through to the kitchen

Comments

Linda said…
Yes the cubs pulled out of any cleaning up due to the weather. Good on you for going ahead. I would have just waited for a drier day!

You would think the council would see that drain as an urgent matter, wouldn't you?! They might need to figure out a strategy or two for coping with 'extreme events'.
Gina said…
I'm so sorry that you're still having problems with water in your cellar... after all that effort, it's just not fair.

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