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> Dubai is having a massive problem with sewage I don't understand why people always bring this up about Dubai. In 2010 a new treatment plant was completed tha

> Dubai is having a massive problem with sewage I don't understand why people always bring this up about Dubai. In 2010 a new treatment plant was completed that nearly doubled capacity. Dubai probably has a better sewage system than most US cities now (and the funds to expand it if needed). The controversy was that in 2009 there were lots of queues for sanitation trucks to dump their waste, so a lot of drivers just illegally dumped it. This resulted in some of the waste ending up in the sea water, so there were concerns over the health of beach goers (tourists). Where I'm from in the UK, up until around 15 years ago, raw sewage was dumped into the sea by design [0]. [0] http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-332000-90000/page/9 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-332000-90000...

bane 14y ago
The controversy was that in 2009 there were lots of queues for sanitation trucks to dump their waste The controversy was that ultramodern, brand new, skyscrapers in what was pretty much an all new from scratch city that hosted the tallest building in the world had to have sanitation trucks to haul away the waste at all. It was symbol of ultra-superficiality.
- winter_blue 14y ago
  I don't know what your point is here.
  - bane 14y ago
    nobody thought to build a sewer system
ChrisNorstrom 14y ago
That's my fault for not keeping up with the times. Sorry I didn't know that was over and fixed. My original point still stands, when cities (even rich ones) expand very rapidly, a traditional sewer system takes too long to build to keep up with demand.
- claudius 14y ago
  A traditional sewer system is not more complex than a traditional fresh water system or a traditional paved road system – in fact, it might well make sense to build the sewers when you pave the roads (or slightly before that…). What it does take is some planning and some functional local authority.
- lucaspiller 14y ago
  No worries, but I'm surprised people always bring it up :) As I said before, it wasn't really much different where I was from in the UK 15 years ago. I expect there are other places in the west where it is still the case.

bane 14y ago

The controversy was that in 2009 there were lots of queues for sanitation trucks to dump their waste The controversy was that ultramodern, brand new, skyscrapers in what was pretty much an all new from scratch city that hosted the tallest building in the world had to have sanitation trucks to haul away the waste at all. It was symbol of ultra-superficiality.

winter_blue 14y ago
I don't know what your point is here.
- bane 14y ago
  nobody thought to build a sewer system

ChrisNorstrom 14y ago

That's my fault for not keeping up with the times. Sorry I didn't know that was over and fixed. My original point still stands, when cities (even rich ones) expand very rapidly, a traditional sewer system takes too long to build to keep up with demand.

claudius 14y ago
A traditional sewer system is not more complex than a traditional fresh water system or a traditional paved road system – in fact, it might well make sense to build the sewers when you pave the roads (or slightly before that…). What it does take is some planning and some functional local authority.
lucaspiller 14y ago
No worries, but I'm surprised people always bring it up :) As I said before, it wasn't really much different where I was from in the UK 15 years ago. I expect there are other places in the west where it is still the case.