I grew up watching the original Schoolhouse Rock woven into Saturday morning cartoons, and I’ll never forget how a conjunction functions, or that a bill sits on Capitol Hill waiting to become a law. Creative methods of delivering information are very effective. Which is why I know my next-door neighbors never saw the “Give a hoot, don’t pollute” Woodsy the owl public service announcements; evidence is piled all around their apartment.
A song or a story can really perk up interest for a topic that is dry. Or one that is not so dry. Even one that is a little stinky.
My daughter works for a nonprofit in the Bayview, one of the underserved neighborhoods of San Francisco, and has connections to other organizations that work in this community and around the city. One agency her organization has had dealings with is the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Last week, she forwarded me an e-mail she had received that linked me to a rap song about the SF sewers. Why not rap about the sewer system?
On March 25, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) released “You Can’t Live a Day Without Me,” a rap song about the City’s sewer system. And it is awesome.
Lyrics were written and performed by summer youth interns as a way to help introduce a younger audience to the importance of a functioning sewer system and the Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP). The video was filmed and edited by San Francisco’s youth through BAYCAT, a local non-profit empowering underserved City youth through digital media training.
One of the SSIP’s first projects is the Southeast Treatment Plant, located in Bayview Hunters Point. It was built in 1952 and treats about 80% of the city’s wastewater flow. Below is some backstory to what is going on with San Francisco’s SSIP from the SFPUC website. After over ten successful years of massively upgrading their water system through the Water System Improvement Project (WSIP), SF is beginning to deal with the wastewater infrastructure:
I grew up watching the original Schoolhouse Rock woven into Saturday morning cartoons, and I’ll never forget how a conjunction functions, or that a bill sits on Capitol Hill waiting to become a law. Creative methods of delivering information are very effective. Which is why I know my next-door neighbors never saw the “Give a hoot, don’t pollute” Woodsy the owl public service announcements; evidence is piled all around their apartment.
A song or a story can really perk up interest for a topic that is dry. Or one that is not so dry. Even one that is a little stinky.
My daughter works for a nonprofit in the Bayview, one of the underserved neighborhoods of San Francisco, and has connections to other organizations that work in this community and around the city. One agency her organization has had dealings with is the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Last week, she forwarded me an e-mail she had received that linked me to a rap song about the SF sewers. Why not rap about the sewer system?
On March 25, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) released "You Can't Live a Day Without Me," a rap song about the City’s sewer system. And it is awesome.
Lyrics were written and performed by summer youth interns as a way to help introduce a younger audience to the importance of a functioning sewer system and the Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP). The video was filmed and edited by San Francisco’s youth through BAYCAT, a local non-profit empowering underserved City youth through digital media training.
One of the SSIP’s first projects is the Southeast Treatment Plant, located in Bayview Hunters Point. It was built in 1952 and treats about 80% of the city’s wastewater flow. Below is some backstory to what is going on with San Francisco’s SSIP from the SFPUC website. After over ten successful years of massively upgrading their water system through the Water System Improvement Project (WSIP), SF is beginning to deal with the wastewater infrastructure:
[text_ad]Investing in Our System Nationwide, utilities are grappling with aging infrastructure, and San Francisco is no exception. Our combined sewer system is 100 years old. It is crucial that we upgrade our system now, before it becomes a threat to our public health.
Routine repairs are not sufficient to keep pace with our aging and seismically vulnerable infrastructure. It is important to invest now in larger capital improvements to avoid more costly emergency repairs, potential regulatory fines, and greater impacts on our communities. The longer upgrades are delayed, the more expensive they become.
Our sewer system was not built to withstand a major earthquake or impacts of climate change, such as intense rainstorms that overwhelm our sewer system, as we treat both sewage and stormwater runoff.
Experts predict that there is an 80% chance that an earthquake of 6.0 magnitude or higher will impact the Bay Area within the next 20 years. So it is not a matter of if, but when the next earthquake will strike. Our current sewer facilities, especially our sewage plant that treats 80% of San Francisco's sewage and stormwater, have an increasing need for emergency repairs. Upgrading our sewer system now is essential to the overall vitality of our City's public health and environment.
Building for the Future After eight years of public feedback along with expert third-party analysis, the SFPUC is moving forward with the Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP) to upgrade aging infrastructure and ensure the reliability and performance of our sewer system, now and into the future.
Through the rebuild of our Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, and other capital programs, we have gained the expertise and know-how to fix our aging sewer system. This experience and knowledge assisted in the development of the SSIP Goals and Levels of Service (learn about the goals here) that will guide project selection and help evaluate our program implementation and success.
Investing in Our System
Nationwide, utilities are grappling with aging infrastructure, and San Francisco is no exception. Our combined sewer system is 100 years old. It is crucial that we upgrade our system now, before it becomes a threat to our public health.
Routine repairs are not sufficient to keep pace with our aging and seismically vulnerable infrastructure. It is important to invest now in larger capital improvements to avoid more costly emergency repairs, potential regulatory fines, and greater impacts on our communities. The longer upgrades are delayed, the more expensive they become.
Our sewer system was not built to withstand a major earthquake or impacts of climate change, such as intense rainstorms that overwhelm our sewer system, as we treat both sewage and stormwater runoff.
Experts predict that there is an 80% chance that an earthquake of 6.0 magnitude or higher will impact the Bay Area within the next 20 years. So it is not a matter of if, but when the next earthquake will strike. Our current sewer facilities, especially our sewage plant that treats 80% of San Francisco’s sewage and stormwater, have an increasing need for emergency repairs. Upgrading our sewer system now is essential to the overall vitality of our City’s public health and environment.
Building for the Future
After eight years of public feedback along with expert third-party analysis, the SFPUC is moving forward with the Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP) to upgrade aging infrastructure and ensure the reliability and performance of our sewer system, now and into the future.
Through the rebuild of our Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, and other capital programs, we have gained the expertise and know-how to fix our aging sewer system. This experience and knowledge assisted in the development of the SSIP Goals and Levels of Service (learn about the goals here) that will guide project selection and help evaluate our program implementation and success.
