CRAFTS: Crochet a miniature toilet, because well c’mon look at it, it’s adorable.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4043 Views
• December 15th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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A holiday lunch at our Administration offices ended with one of our managers receiving a crocheted mini toilet, handmade by one of our colleagues, Marina. Um yes please. #Adorable #Weird, #ButAdorable pic.twitter.com/mfVtPR9E0M — Spokesdrop, NEORSD (@wallywaterdrop) December 14, 2013 We think Marina made it without a pattern, which makes...

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TIPS: The #12clogs of Christmas [#infographic and video]

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4641 Views
• December 13th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
• 2 Comments

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but here’s a wish list of a different kind. If you whistle while you work preparing for holiday gatherings, here’s a new take on a Christmas tune that will help you (or your guests) remember what not to put down the...

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HISTORY: Why are tunnel boring machines named, and why are they named after women?

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 5234 Views
• December 13th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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Yesterday, our tunnel boring machine Mackenzie—who has been disassembled for more than a month but keeps right on tweeting—received a great question from a follower: Are all tunnel boring machines named after women? Why?@MomChungtheTBM @BerthaDigsSR99 @BigAlmatheTBM @LadyBirdTBM @MackenzieTBM — Kimble McCraw (@kimblem) December 12, 2013 With a little help...

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HOME: Holiday stress? Why water lines burst the way they do.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4054 Views
• December 11th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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Photo courtesy justclaire, flickr If you’ve every experienced a frozen or burst water line at home (our condolences if you have), “inconvenient” doesn’t begin to describe it. However, the word “interesting” might. We came across a technical but very educational blog post by Nick Berry as featured on Popular...

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NEWS: #WaitToTweet ’til you’re toilet-trained? iPotty voted worst toy of 2013

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 3700 Views
• December 11th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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Photo courtesy Jezebel The votes are in: The worst of the worst toys of the year is the iPotty, an iPad holder built into your child’s potty-training seat. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood annually presents one unlucky winner with the TODAY (Toys Oppressive and Destructive to Young Children)...

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PIC: Sweet home Milwaukee? Trash boat has best name ever.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 3902 Views
• December 10th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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OK, so Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has the best boat name ever. Since 2012, Milwaukee’s canals and rivers have been maintained with a skimming boat named the Lynyrd Skymmr. Lynyrd Skymmr. Worth noting today since it was on this day back in 1973 that Lynyrd Skynyrd played in Ohio,...

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AWARD: When it comes to national recognition, clean water works.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4106 Views
• December 5th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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Our first internally produced technical magazine has been recognized by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) as a 2014 National Environmental Achievement Award-winner. Clean Water Works was selected to receive this Public Information & Education honor thanks to its scientific content and contribution to public education regarding...

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VIDEO: 1928 school film shares how to treat sewage, how to set rat traps, and how not to catch malaria, typhoid, or the bubonic plague

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 3938 Views
• December 5th, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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Throwback Thursday is an opportunity to harken back to a time when we used the words “hence” and “typhoid” in daily American conversation. The 4-minute clip above is from a 20-minute 1928 educational silent film called “Health and Hygiene” which focused on the causes of common diseases and their...

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PIC: Ask an engineer how a combined sewer works. Here’s what you get.

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 4111 Views
• December 3rd, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
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“It’s a little messy around the edges,” Joe said, referring to his sketch of a combined sewer regulator. I would have described it as intricate, then again, I’m not Joe. Joe Jira is a Geographic Information System Analyst in our Engineering department, and Analyst doesn’t give his enthusiasm for...

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LOOK: Mackenzie, now in pieces, awaits a resurrection

• Posted by Jared Shepherd
• 3938 Views
• December 2nd, 2013
• in Miscellaneous
• No Comments

It is finished. Mackenzie—the 1,500-ton tunnel boring machine that once spanned more than three football fields in total length—now rests in hundreds of pieces in the cold December Bratenahl air. Since finishing her three-mile journey digging the Euclid Creek Tunnel back in August, she has been meticulously disassembled and...

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