Toilets and Pollution...
 

I was just watching a program about polluting a river -- and how companies - large and small - dump (illegally and secretly) toxic crap into rivers, soil, etc.

My question is this... isn't that just too easy of a way to get caught? Why wouldn't you just flush it down the toilet?

Seems silly I guess, but I'm just curious.

(I don't know much about sewer treatment, etc.)

Most cities will put monitoring devices in the sewers outside commercial facilities. If the wrong stuff goes down the drain it sets off an alarm at the treatment plant.

You got to trust me on why I know about this one.

o.k. I'll bite- why?

Just stupid, lazy and cheap. It's easy enough to call Clean Harbors (or similar) and have them haul away whatever you've got, but it'll cost you.

Most Water Districts/Commissions run Household Hazardous Waste Removal days where homeowners can bring old chemicals and toxic stuff. Even though I guess it's technically illegal for companies to bring their waste there, at least then it would be disposed of properly.

Illegal dumping into the sewers can net you some horrendous fines. A Purina plant in Louisville, KY once accidentaly released some chemical into the sewers there. The resulting explosion made the southern end of Louisville look like an earthquake had ocurred. I can't imagine how much THAT cost the company!

Two employees knocked over a 400 gallon bulk motor oil dispensor in the middle of the night in a wash/lube bay. (it should have been anchored). Before they could right it about 250 gallons spilled out. In the employees infinate wisdom and instead of using a spill kit they used a pressure want and washed it down the drain. This triggered an alarm at the treatment plant and they shut the main sewage line down. Three days and about $190,000 later everything was back to normal

Makes you want to handle that Cat Chow a little more cautiously, doesn't it?