Next time you smell the unmistakable stench of raw sewage, take a big wiff, its good for you. According to British researchers, the chemical gas known as Hydrogen Sulfide, the gas associated with the smell of sewage and rotten eggs, actually plays a role in regulating our blood pressure. Researchers say that H2S naturally produced in our bodies relaxes vascular tissues aiding in the smooth flow of blood.

Week of Feb. 22

A McDonald's in Birmingham England had to close this week after a sewage pipe burst into the restaurant and play area. According to anonymous sources, "The sewage exploded out of the pipe and down into the party area. There's been a smell of rotten cabbage for about two weeks and staff were leaving doors open, not knowing what the problem was." The restaurant claims to have thoroughly cleaned the play area and eatery and is now again open to serve the highest quality food at the lowest possible price. I'm lobin' it!!!

And Now the Spills of the Week:

We've heard all kinds of plans for "reuse" of wastewater from making snow at ski resorts, to heating buildings, to treating it to potable standards and pipe it irectly into drinking water aquifers. The latest development in sewage reuse is to turn sewage into energy. EnerTech Environmental, an energy research a development company based in Atlanta, GA, has received venture capital funding from Citigroup's Sustainable Development Investments, the Masdar Clean Tech Fund, CNM and Nimes Capital to develop five plants that will convert human waste into renewable energy. EnerTech is a pioneer in the sustainable energy development field. The company has engineered a specific technology it calls SlurryCarb which replicates the natural process that creates fossil fuel from organic material. The process of using sewage or garbage for energy isn't entirely a new concept. For example: methane traps at landfills have been around for years. The true innovation of SlurryCarb is the entire process of removing water from the waste and being able to use what's left as fuel for energy generation. My only question would be is that since the energy source is carbon based does are the same sort of greenhouse gases produced when the sewage based fuel is burned. Are the gases released potentially worse, i.e. methane, than carbon releases from fossil fuels? Nevertheless, with approximately 301,139,947 people in the US, and with our tendency to overeat, it's a safe be that "fuel" will never be in short supply. You can't say that about fossil fuels. And if sewage is burnt for energy than that means it's not being dumped in our rivers lakes and oceans - and here at the Slog we can't argue against that.

Now the Spills of the Week:

© XPRESS/Abdel-Krim KalloucheThere's dirty secret that permeates the oil and wealth of Dubai. According to the Xpress News, A Dubai newspaper, sewage tankers are circumventing regulations and long lines at sewage treatment plants by simply dumping loads of raw sewage into the streets and storm drains of the city. So far 50 tankers have been caught red handed and fined. Officials fear that this may only be the tip of the sand dune. Tanker driver's can make up to 2,000 dirhams ($544) per load. Illegally dumping can yield ten times that amount because drivers can get more loads per shift. They can dump full loads of raw sewage into the street in less than six minutes, as opposed to waiting in long lines at the treatment plant which can take hours.

Dubai is a rapidly growing city with enormous capital resources. It is a shame that it doesn't have the foresight to better develop its wastewater infrastructure more quickly. Hopefully regulators will get a hold of this and end a gross and dangerous practice. As for the tanker drivers, as my mother would say, ‘shame on you.'

Now the Spills of the Week:

Our old friend Rob Perks tipped me to a feature story in Texas Monthly, a monthly publication about al things Texas, with a humorous and extensive overview of where the poo goes when we flush the toilet. It's filled with clever andecotes and unbeleiveable stories about what comes up when the system that's supposed to keep things down fails. Peter Carlson at the Washington Post offers this summary of the story: