"No Flush Thursday" Could Be the Answer

Too Much Crap Has Always Been a Problem

January 25, 2018
By: O. J. Cunningham

Someone needs to take a long, hard look at the partially-treated, raw sewage issue in Bay City and how it relates to the yearly budget issues for the City of Bay City.

So I got to thinking about the city's cash "flow" problem. (And everyone knows that I'm the kinda guy that's always looking to help out.)

So, I've been brain-"storming."

And then, today, while reading MLive . . . It hit me . . . like a pile of crap...

According to the MLive update, millions gallons of partially-treated, raw sewage was (again) discharged (flowed) into the Saginaw River because of the torrential rain storm late last week.

SIMPLE!! . . . There's obviously too much crap in Bay City.

Eureka . . . The answer is blatantly obvious. We have to do something to limit our crap. It's simple to me - Let's consider No Flush Thursday.

And the mere thought of limiting crap got me thinking about the City's budgetary problem again. (Imagine that?)

Here's what I came up with . . .

(Working the Numbers) -- Let's say ... The city collects about $50 per month from about 20,000 homes and businesses in Bay City. That's about $15 million.

If we all agree to not flush on Thursday, that will reduce our flush usage about 15% and save the city maybe $1.8 million in fees to the Bay County Water Treatment Plant.

In addition, this would lower the amount of sewage that the County Water Treatment Plant would need to process each week. In the long run, this would certainly affect the incidence of partially-treated raw sewage being inadvertently dumped into the Saginaw River.

(1) We don't pay any more. (2) The city gets to balance the budget. (3) The county gets less sewage to spill into the Saginaw River. A win-win for everyone. It's as easy as 1-2-3.

How tough would it be to not flush on Thursday? It's just one day a week.

I asked my wife if it was reasonable to be able to flush only six days a week . . .

Hmmmmmm ..... Well, maybe she's not the right one to ask anyway . . . (I'm sure she probably didn't understand the seriousness of my question.) She muttered something to me about being "full of it" and that I didn't have a boat anyway.

I'll go down to City Hall tomorrow and see if I can find someone that understands the seriousness of these budgetary matters and financial dealings.

CRAP is probably more of a man thing anyway.

Click Here - If your wondering just how much space millions of gallons of partially-treated, raw sewage can fill . . .