Answering the question: "What happens when I 'go'?"
“When you flush the toilet, it doesn’t disappear by magic,” says wastewater control representative Kristen. Instead, it ends up at EBMUD’s Main Wastewater Treatment Plant in West Oakland, serving nearly 685,000 East Bay residents.
EBMUD ensures that the treated wastewater leaving the plant won’t harm human health or aquatic life. To be successful, we monitor what’s entering the plant to ensure it won’t kill beneficial bacteria (which eat the suspended waste in wastewater) and otherwise disrupt the treatment process. “People can help by only flushing the three P’s (pee, poop and toilet paper) and keeping fats, oils and grease out of sinks.”
Kristen majored in environmental studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and then taught science to Oakland high schoolers. At EBMUD, she educates residents of all ages about water and wastewater systems.
Given her experience teaching young students, it’s no surprise that Kristen is comfortable with making toilet talk relatable.
“We have another set of bacteria that digest sludge and fart out methane, which we use to produce electricity,” she explains. The main goal of wastewater treatment is to protect public health and the environment, but EBMUD's plant also transforms sewage and other organic wastes into green energy, nutrient-rich soil conditioner and recycled water. Kristen says people are “totally blown away by what we do with their poop” when they tour the treatment plant.
“I enjoy being a public servant. I’m proud to work for an organization that brings the public goods of fresh drinking water and wastewater treatment to my community.”