When I think of tourist attractions I think of famed Seneca Rocks in West Virginia, or the famous Luray Caverns in central Virginia. But in Israel, tourists are looking at new and revolutionary sewage treatment facilities. In the Golan Heights, several locations are planning to offer tour guides and observation areas. These new tourist destinations will highlight the new environmentally friendly treatment facilities and reinforce the need to utilize more sustainable water use. Not only will the tours focus on sewage and water issues, it also includes a tour of a new Biogas production facility where manure from local farms is used to produce gas that will be used to create electricity. More innovation in the disposal, treatment and use of our waste is necessary to tackle the growing strains on our treatment facilities and freshwater scarcity. By bringing the public into the know, the Golan Heights is empowering its citizens, because everyone has a right, and an obligation, to know what happens to our waste.

And Now the Spills of the Week:

WARNING: Everything is OK: Health officials are warning beachgoers in La Jolla about a sewage spill. Officials said about 1,500 gallon sewage spilled on Camino De La Costa in La Jolla. The spill began just before 10 in the morning. It took the Metropolitan Wastewater Department more than two and a half hours to contain the spill. The sewage spilled into the ocean near the Bird Rock shoreline. Warning signs have been posted at the beach telling everyone that sewage spills are ok as long as they spill into the ocean. Really? Tell that to this woman.
- February 29, 2008: NBCsandiego.com - San Diego, CA

Transport Troubles: Work crews cleaned up a sewage tanker spill which blocked a lane on Indian River Boulevard, Indian River County Fire Rescue officials said. The spill extends along a block of the road, Fire Rescue said. The state Department of Environmental Health is responding to the scene. Information about how much sewage was spilled or when the road would reopen was not released.
- March 1, 2008: TCPalm.com, Fort Pierce, FL

Poo Lagoon: A sewage spill created a smelly problem for residents near Grand Lagoon, FL. "You see what we got. A mess," said Grand Lagoon resident Lyn Banks, "This thing has been stinking ever since I can remember and this is the second mishap in less than a year." Nearly 1 million gallons of sewage leaked out into the lagoon after what city officials say was an accident. "This is pathetic," said Banks, "I mean this is caused by human error which should not have ever been." Maintenance workers are doing damage control, coming from all over the state to fix the leak as fast as possible costing the state about $150,000.
- March 4, 2008: WMBB News 13, wmbb.com - Panama City, FL

By Passed Mess: The Des Moines River is taking another beating. Thousands of gallons of sewage overflowed and was by passed into the river following rapid snow melt and rain in Iowa. These weather events coupled with the breakage of the main sewage line leading into the Ottumwa plant adds to the long line of terrible sewage mishaps happening to Des Moines River.
- March 5, 2008: Radio Iowa News - Des Moines, IA

Big Break: Between 10,000 and 50,000 gallons of untreated sewage leaked Wednesday into the south branch of the Paw Paw River after an underground sewer line broke. Uhh, 10 to 50 thousand gallons that quite disparity don't ya think? Tanker trucks were to be used this morning to clean up the spill and transport the waste to the village's sewage-treatment ponds. Samples of river water and water from the Maple Island swimming area were taken for analysis.
- March 6, 2008: Mlive.com, Kalamazoo Gazette, Kalamazoo, MI

3 in a Row!!: Rome work crews will be examining sewer lines to see how rainwater got into the system Tuesday and pushed an estimated 34,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Coosa River. "We had a lot of rain in a short amount of time," Water and Sewer Department Director Leigh Ross said Wednesday. "It made its way into the sanitary sewer system and took up all the capacity. When the intense rain stopped, the system was able to handle the normal flow." The biggest spill, 25,000 gallons, occurred at the Horseleg Creek lift station. Sewage ran into the river for an hour. Approximately 8,000 gallons overflowed at Savannah Place, off Garden Lakes Parkway, into a tributary of the Coosa, and another 1,000 gallons ran into a tributary near Beech Creek subdivision.
- March 6, 2008: Rome News Tribune.com - Rome, GA

Home Owner Nightmare: When sewage started bubbling up in the bathroom in John Kerrick's finished basement, his horrified daughter ran upstairs. "She came up screaming, ‘The toilet's exploding,'" Kerrick said. The problem also occurred during flooding in June 2006 and in September 2004. Kerrick's neighbor Joe Lakowski said he spent thousands of dollars replacing walls, paneling, heating units, and making other repairs after sewage overran his home. "If it was the first time it happened, it wouldn't be a problem. It's my fourth time and John's third," Lakowski said. Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Mark Carmon said the state agency is aware of the situation, and that Dallas Area Municipal Authority is "going to see if there is anything they can do to help these residents." "We told them if they needed any technical assistance or anything like that, they can get back to us. Hopefully they can develop some kind of system for this group of homes," Carmon said. "Even if it is only once every couple of years, you don't ever want to go through that - cleanup after a sewage backup. No homeowner should have to put up with that."
- March 7, 2008: The Citizens Voice, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Stinky like the Wolf: Baldwin County health officials warned people in the Foley area today about two sewage spills into Wolf Creek. Mechanical failures at a wastewater plant caused sewage to discharge into a storm drain that empties into the waterway, according to the Baldwin County Department of Public Health. In the first incident Wednesday, about 1,000 gallons of sewage was spilled, and in another incident later that same day, about 15,000 gallons was discharged. Health officials urged people in the Wolf Creek area to use caution and thoroughly cook any seafood caught nearby.
- March 7, 2008: The Press Register - Mobile, AL