Waste Water

WASHINGTON -- Scientists have found harmless bacteria that they say can remove radioactive contaminants from wastewater.The phenomenon may open the way for biological filtration of water-borne nuclear waste that would be cheaper and more effective than chemical methods now in use, said Dr. Brendlyn D. Faison, one of the researchers at Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory that made the discovery.While it does not resolve the crucial problem of nuclear-waste disposal, the microbial "scrubbing" of wastewater offers a natural way to remove harmful metals and radioactive contaminants in water that drains from facilities like radiology rooms, nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons factories, Dr. Faison said in a telephone interview.

Used condoms and black muck lay tangled in the grass Friday between a county manhole and Rock Creek's troubled headwaters.A health inspector discovered the sewage spill accidentally Friday morning, prompting Rock Creek activists to renew their calls for immediate action to clean up the Patapsco River tributary.Officials with the county Department of Utilities confirmed Friday that sewage had spilled from the manhole, which lies between the Rock Creek pumping station and the Cox Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant.

Evil-smelling effluent bubbling from a factory into a bay. Is that what you see when you think of water pollution?Twenty years ago, that picture would have been pretty accurate. But factories and municipalities have largely cleaned up their act -- and their effluent, the technical term for waste water.Now when it comes to polluting surface waters, the biggest villains are us. You, me, Mr. Perennially Tinkering Under Cars next door, Ms. Weed and Feed the Lawn Every Month Whether It Needs It or Not on the corner, and the folks across the street who paved their yard so they wouldn't have to mow it.The problem is runoff.

Everything is getting more expensive these days, even a drink of water.In Baltimore, top city officials yesterday approved raising water and sewer fees by 19 percent, or about $60 a year for an average household."

The challenge of providing enough water safe for human consumption has grown drastically over the past two decades. Back in 1992, the Rio Earth Summit and the International Conference on Water and Environment in Dublin brought to the world's attention the scarcity of clean water and its vital link to environmental degradation. Countries responded mainly by building more infrastructure. Meanwhile, they continued to overlook the deteriorating state of the world's aquatic resources. As a result, the nations of the world, including the United States, face a common menace that drives home the link between water and the environment.

The Maryland Department of the Environment will hold a public hearing at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow for Browning-Ferris Industries' application to put treated water from the Solley Road hazardous waste landfill into an intermittent stream that leads to Marley Creek.The hearing will be at the fire station at Solley and Fort Smallwood roads in Riviera Beach.POLICE LOG* Pasadena: Someone pulled back the vinyl top of a 1989 Chevrolet parked in a driveway in the 3400 block of Old Crown Drive and stole a $250 Sherwood car stereo and a $200 Pioneer converter Friday night.

We don't have a dishwasher at my house, a lapse my unfortunate dinner guests complain about bitterly when they are kind enough to take a turn at the sink. "Haven't you read that dishwashers use less hot water than washing by hand?" they ask hopefully.Well, you know, I have read that. A 1988 Ohio State University study showed that the average automatic dishwasher uses 9.9 gallons of water compared with 15.7 gallons used by the average hand dish washer.Of course, the study didn't count the 15.7 gallons the average person loading the dishwasher uses to rinse the dishes clean before putting them in the machine.

The newly constructed septage facility at the Westminster Waste Water Treatment Plant is scheduled to open Jan. 11.Septage haulers licensed by the Carroll County Health Department will be charged for septage discharge according to a flat-rate system based on the size of the septic tank or other type of septic system.A manifest will be completed and signed by each hauler documenting the location and size of the septic system pumped.Because septic haulers will base rates to customers on the size of the tank pumped, it will be helpful for homeowners to know the size of the septage tank on their property.

Just six days into summer, more Baltimore fire hydrants have been hacked open this year than last - wasting millions of gallons of water, city officials said. This year, people have burst open 401 hydrants to bask in the comfort of a free rush of cooling water, compared with 337 for all of last year, according to the Department of Public Works. "We've had a really hot period, and they're up this year," said Kurt Kocher, department spokesman. Because of the heat and pollution, state officials have issued a "code red" air-pollution warning for today, when 90-degree temperatures are expected.

For something that is colorless, odorless, shapeless and pretty much tasteless, water can be awfully noisy.Even the smallest water noise -- a dripping faucet, for instance -- can sound like a jackhammer in an otherwise quiet house. And when water teams up with air in a confined space, it can sound like "The Anvil Chorus."Old houses often have one or more of these watery sprites. If you can pinpoint it (and it isn't always that easy), the solution may be fairly simple.Banging pipes are a common water-noise problem.