TMI: A new Measurement of Volume: Olympic Size swimming pool

TMI

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This morning, the Press is reporting on "Canada not ready to dispose of mercury-laden light bulbs" - Vancouver Sun  from   The Canadian Press  Dean Beeby 

Mercury-laden CFL:

Snip

Beginning next January, a new regulation will effectively ban the sale of standard incandescent bulbs in favour of energy-efficient versions, most of which contain mercury.

So-called compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, will also enter the waste stream as they break or burn out, many destined for landfills where their harmful mercury can get into the water.

Environment Canada (Pages 3 and 11) says the MERCURY contained in a typical thermometer can contaminate five Olympic-size swimming pools to toxic levels.                                         Snip

Imagine that, one Typical thermometer can contaminate FIVE OLYMPIC-SIZE SWIMMING POOLS!   There's no mention, however, of how many Compact Fluorescent lamps can fit into a Typical thermometer............

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From Christy Clark's Minister of Environment, Terry Lake's (fitting last name) desktop:

Did you know that the average British Columbian uses about 490 litres of water each day? If you include the water that is embedded in the food you eat, the clothes you wear and the products you use every day, your “water footprint” may be over 6,000 litres a day. Over the course of a year, that’s almost a full Olympic-sized swimming pool of water per person!  - Living Water Smart

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Maple Ridge uses 4,200 full Olympic sized swimming pools per year, that's 10.5 million cubic meters   .... population 69,000 to 75,000.

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Olympic-size swimming pool is the type of swimming pool used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is 50 metres in length and 25 metres in width. - Wikipedia

Success story

Approximately 2.9 million litres of municipal drinking water is conserved annually with a very basic pipe configuration.  This exceeds the volume of water required to fill an Olympic size Swimming Pool.  Page 4 of 4

There are Three watersheds (drainage and catchment areas) in Metro Vancouver Water District, and whereas they are different in land area, the volume of water is essentially the same.  Population: 2,000,000... Two Million......

Capilano Lake held back by Cleveland Dam....... from an earlier Post.

The math should be easy here, based upon Minister Lake's calculations...... of one full Olympic-sized per person...   Maple Ridge's population versus 4,200 pools....

2,000,000 X 1 = 2,000,000 Olympic Size swimming pools

However:
ONE THERMOMETER can contaminate to toxic levels FIVE Olympic Size Swimming Pools.

400,000 thermometers would be needed to contaminate 2 million Olympic swimming pools

One/Third of Four Hundred Thousand ...... approximately 12,000 thermometers per watershed.

2,400 visitors carrying five thermometers each......

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TMI

Could someone please explain why the Federal and Provincial governments are introducing a product that will ... allow terrorists  to contaminate our drinking water with mercury without the means to dispose of the toxic material (mercury), to stop "them", or us?   This insanity must STOP

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 UPDATE  September 26, 2013

The Canadian Press

Published Sunday, April 1, 2012 7:53PM EDT

OTTAWA - Enough nuclear waste to fill more than a hundred Olympic-sized swimming pools could be buried in an underground chamber near the Ottawa River.

The federal government is eyeing the site of the Chalk River nuclear reactor, 160 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, as a radioactive waste site.

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. says 267,000 cubic metres of low- and medium-level nuclear waste is now stored above-ground in metal containers at the Chalk River site.
   
The Crown corporation is looking at building an enormous depository 500 to 1,000 metres underground to bury the detritus of six decades of nuclear testing at the Chalk River site.

UPDATE October 4, 2013

Sir Adam Beck Generating Stations downstream at a rate that would fill an Olympic sizedswimming pool every five seconds

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UPDATE November 3, 2013

Trans Mountain Pipeline aka Kinder Morgan   "Did you Know":

Approximately three million barrels of crude oil travel through Canada’s crude oil pipeline network every day, enough to fill more than 475 million one-litre milk cartons or almost 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Factoids

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UPDATE  November 13, 2013

 Natural gas industry accused of illegal water use in B.C.
Environmental groups say Encana should have to pay for water used in fracking process

The environmental groups say as Encana proceeded with the fracking process to extract natural gas from underground reserves, it drew 880 Olympic swimming pools worth of water over three years from the Kiskatinaw River, which supplies drinking water to the city of Dawson Creek.

All's quiet at Cleveland Dam in North Vancouver except for the gushing.....

There's two ways to make your way onto the dam's topside.  One is to park your car/bus/camper in the dedicated public parking lot as early as 7am, and just walk on over the man made berm to the concrete dam, but beware, don't be late leaving the lot, the gate is locked at 10pm.

Or secondly, approach the top of the dam by road, no walking necessary, as an authorized Metro Vancouver employee/Contractor, with a motor vehicle, they have unlimited access.   The padlock is kept snapped shut on top of the metal gate.  Nice and handy.   

Do you See the padlock on top of the gate?

All that the employees have to do, during the day, is drive up to the gated fence, stop the car, leave the motor running, approach the gate, lift the latch, swing the gate open, drive in, close the gate and then latch the gate (but not locking with the padlock provided), to keep the unauthorized people from entering illegally.

The security of our precious drinking water is on an Honour system.

The area is under camera surveillance, with the ONE camera pointed directly at the Coca Cola vending machine, half way to the dam.    If someone who is not authorized to be in the area, with their motor vehicle, they're safe till the Coca Cola machine.  So just act nonchalant, drive up near the Coke machine, put your money in, and Enjoy.   Proceed driving to the top of the Dam.   Illegally.

While I was there today, there were three vehicles making their get-away.........  in the space of half an hour....you'd think that a security person would be warranted for such a delicate situation.  Cleveland Dam provides  40% of Vancouver's drinking water.

Capilano Reservoir

North Vancouver’s Capilano Reservoir supplies 33 per cent of the region's drinking water and is contained by the Cleveland Dam (also operated by Metro Vancouver). Visitors can view the reservoir from Cleveland Dam at the north end of Capilano River Regional Park.

 Take a tour of the Capilano watershed

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Mercury

TMI