Sea temperature measuring instrument

Calibration of the reference €1 German thermometer: it seems to be reading 0.0024 degrees.

Those water molecules have almost stopped jiggling [Feynman].

Bits of Iceland on my car

Anyone noticed a layer of dust on the car? I took a sample and looked through the microscope and it looked glassy (the pictue shows dust on the glass - I couldn't manage a photo through the microscope eyepiece). Could it be from the volcano? According to the plume map, Ireland is ash-free.


Good channel 4 Program here

Flotsam on Whiterock

Vico road closed today

Landslide

Removing the small but deceptively heavy and sticky landslide.

Sewage ends blue flag hopes of popular beaches

Indepent newspaper article of interest

Gorse fire on Dalkey Hill

Seapoint Raped Of Blue Flag

"All the time, it was...we finally really did it!!
You maniacs! You blew it up!
Ah, damn you! God...damn you all to hell!"

Irish Independent Wed 5 Sept '07

Horizontal red line is maximum allowable pollution!

Subsequent readings also failed to comply.

What can you say, only it's not surprising!

My previous S##T post refers...

Well as sort of suspected, those lovely sleek yachts belonging to the rich and aimless, that are often found occupying our little bay on a sunny day, may also be contributing to the water pollution. Have a look at section 3.3 of the Dun Laoghaire marina booklet (here);

Craft not fitted with holding tanks shall not discharge sewage directly into the marina or harbour.

The inference being it's OK to discharge anywhere else?

Craft fitted with holding tanks may discharge sewage at the sewage discharge facility ... There will be a charge associated with such discharge.

The pollution in our water, after these boats have paid us a visit, suggests to this blogger that the greed culture, which endowed many of these sailors with their yachts, may dominate their thinking when their "tanks are full" - to our detriment!

So the s*#t isn't just from coliemore...

An extract from chapter 12 of the development plan says that;

Shanganagh Sea Outfall Works
• Construction of an upgraded sewage treatment plant to
eliminate the discharge of untreated municipal sewage
from the Shanganagh and Bray sea outfalls to meet the
E.U. Urban Wastewater Directive, 1991... This scheme is at preliminary design stage and is due to open in 2006.

Consulting the project website (here), they say that;

A new wastewater Treatment Works ... will provide secondary treatment and biosolids treatment. Currently only basic preliminary treatment is carried out at the Works and untreated effluent is discharged to Dublin Bay by a long sea outfall. Secondary treatment removes over 90% of organic pollution and suspended solids from the wastewater, greatly improving the quality of effluent being discharged to the Bay.

Unfortunately when asked when this 2.5 year project will commence, they can only say: sometime in 2008! However, considering that for the Coliemore pumping station it was: "anticipated that the contract works will commence in late Spring 2002, for a period of one year" according to council meeting minutes (here), we should expect to be swimming in s##t till 2012 at the earliest!


Also, ever wondered just how bad Coliemore is???
Well check out this extract from page 35 of the Clean Seas Project, Harbour Survey Report (Ireland), from December 2001 where they say;

Comments:
Coliemore is a scenically stunning, historic harbour. Sewage is bubbling out of the pier wall and there are real water quality problems. A bleaching substance was also observed to be running from a small pipe down the slipway on two visits.

They also make the following;
Recommendations:
1. The area needs sewage treatment badly.
2. In the interim a warning sign not to swim or touch water in the harbour should be installed to protect public health.

Ah the beauty of Eire - the land of saints & scholars ... and seas full of s*#t