Waste Treatment Plants Ready for the 'Super Bowl Flush'

Wastewater treatment plants all over the country always dread Super Bowl Halftime.  It's not because the NFL usually trots out washed up rockers and puts then on a bad sound system with people in costumes dancing badly in front of the portable stage.

It's because of the "Super Bowl Flush" as officials reported that there is a noticeable surge in sewage flow and a drop in water pressure during halftime the Super Bowl.

During last year's Super Bowl, the wastewater plant in Vallejo, Calif., received a noticeable bump in inflow during halftime.

Jennifer Kaiser, spokeswoman for the Vallejo Sanitation and Flood District, reported that there were up-ticks in the flows around half time and after the game ended last year.

In Miami, the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department requested that local football fans try to spread their trips to the restrooms throughout the game. This will lessen the impact on the sewer system. The Department even asked fans to consider single-ply toilet paper. Huh?

Tyrone Jue, spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, reported that no other television event, including the World Series and the Olympics, causes a noticeable increase.

A wastewater expert reported that realistically, a water customer might only notice that the water flow is slightly slower than normal during the half-time show this year.

Some water treatment facilities may notice issues even after the game is over.  Joe Haworth, member of the California Association of Sanitation Agencies Public Education Committee, told The Reporter that the effects are not as immediate on the wastewater side, since sewage can sometimes take hours to reach wastewater plants.

My advice is don't wait until halftime, not because you might miss a retread like Madonna, but because you'll miss the Puppy Bowl or the Lingerie Bowl.