Anyone here been to a sewage pumping station or works there? Inspired by Dirty Jobs Episode..

[Qianglong]

I watched Dirty Jobs episode where the host have to actually go into a sewage pumping station to clean the well and remove the pump for maintanence. I am quite shocked to see that humans actually have to go in to do the dity jobs. I thought it was all automated...

I kinda feel bad and admire the host for going to such places... So anyone been there before and how does the place smell like?

 

[effowe]

Is that where they find the 'white fish'

 

[FoBoT]

changing out mechanical parts of mechanical systems isn't something that is automatable right now, you would need very advanced robots

robots with LASERS on their heads and junk

 

[Injury]

It's also a reason to stay in school.

 

[ViviTheMage]

yup, at my old cabin we had my little brother and the sewage guy go into our septic tank to scrap out the crap , because it was frozen to the walls.

 

[TwiceOver]

Intrigued about sewage pumping stations.

Wait till you hear about like space and shit.

 

[Linflas]

I worked for 5 years at the Naval Research Lab which shares a fence with the Blue Plains treatment center. That was more than close enough for me. Oddly enough the cafeteria was right up against that fence which was a source of endless jokes and speculation.

 

[frostedflakes]

Well that was the one where they were replacing the pump, right? I doubt it's a task that has to be done often, but when it does have to be done I feel bad for the people who have to do it.

Awesome show, though. I love the message, and Mike Rowe is such a great personality, he really keeps the show interesting.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Injury
It's also a reason to stay in school.

A lot of people that do jobs like that need at least a AA degree or very specific exp. that garners them a fair wage in most places.

 

[Rubycon]

Those guys that do it are proud. Proud indeed!

 

[FoBoT]

yes, experienced master plumbers and pipefitters and riggers make large $

 

[IGBT]

..go work for a plumber for a few years. You'll get lots of poop jobs.

 

[BoomerD]

Over the years, I've had cranes into several wastewater treatment plants, plus, I've helped build a couple of them.

Definitely not among my favorite jobs, that's for sure. Fortunately, I never had to be one of the people who had to get down inside of things...I just had to hoist pumps and motors in/out of the holes for the crews.
They can be pretty hazardous work environments, as H2S can accumulate in enclosed areas.

But, like plumbers say..."It smells like shit to you, but it smells like money to me."

 

[weeber]

I'm an environmental engineer that works at a consulting firm that designs water and wastewater treatment plants and I've seen a few sewage treatment plants, including the headworks (pumping station). A lot of the normal operation is automated, but when it comes to maintenance, it's mostly done by people. The headworks of a sewage treatment plant smells exactly how you would expect it to, like sewage. It nauseating at first, but I understand you get used to it.

The operators get paid pretty well, from what I remember it's one of the better paying jobs you can get with just a high school degree. You just don't want to take your work home with you. One operator I was talking with was describing the fringe benefits like getting to keep whatever you find. One time there must have been a drug bust or something where large bills got flushed down a toilet. He found a couple hundred that way, just got to rinse them off.

 

[bonkers325]

i worked in a sewage treatment plant before

the city hires workers at $8/hr to scrub out the holding tanks

i worked as a lab tech handling... "samples"... the smell varies from person to person (pun intended ) but sometimes it looks much worse than it smells and vice versa

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: weeber
I'm an environmental engineer that works at a consulting firm that designs water and wastewater treatment plants and I've seen a few sewage treatment plants, including the headworks (pumping station). A lot of the normal operation is automated, but when it comes to maintenance, it's mostly done by people. The headworks of a sewage treatment plant smells exactly how you would expect it to, like sewage. It nauseating at first, but I understand you get used to it.

The operators get paid pretty well, from what I remember it's one of the better paying jobs you can get with just a high school degree. You just don't want to take your work home with you. One operator I was talking with was describing the fringe benefits like getting to keep whatever you find. One time there must have been a drug bust or something where large bills got flushed down a toilet. He found a couple hundred that way, just got to rinse them off.

ass pennies?

 

[Maiora]

Best truck logo I've seen yet was a plumber!

"Your shit is our bread and butter!"

 

[Fiat1]

You would love the items in the bar screen filter.....

 

[sonambulo]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
yes, experienced master plumbers and pipefitters and riggers make large $

Double down! Any master tradesman with a lot of experience is making some serious coin especially if they're running their own crew. After a while they get used to living how they lived before so they stay in shitty areas and never get a taste for life's finer things but the cash they have squirreled away is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[D1gger]

My company builds, repairs and maintains sewage lift stations. It is rare that we have anyone actually enter the wet well. The new systems are designed so that the pumps, floats, indicators, etc. can be removed while standing on the top of the wet well and replaced without entering the dirty, and dangerous confined space. All the electronics are housed in an above ground kiosk, completely separate from the wet well.

It is only in the very rare case of a pump jammed on the lifting rails, or if we have to upgrade the pump to one of much higher capacity would our workers have to enter the wet well.

 

[Capt Caveman]

In high school during the summer, I used to work for the town's dept of sanitation. My first job was going to the pumping stations and cleaning the grates of non-flushable items. The first thing you had to do before going in was to turn on a six foot diameter fan. Then you'd walk over a metal grate with a river of sewage running below you. Had to fill-up multiple buckets of tp, condoms, etc and dump it all at the local land-fill. I think I made something like $2.30/hr to add insult to injury.

But after 1-2 hours of work, we used to find places to hide the truck and sleep.

 

[RandomFool]

I did some computer work at the sewage treatment plant once. It was pretty nasty especially when the trucks came in to fill up (don't ask me why).

 

[zoiks]

Originally posted by: effowe
Is that where they find the 'white fish'

Nopes. Thats where you find the brown trout.