Vanity plates

My friend JB does not care for the personalized plates which the State of Virginia makes available.
“In addition to displaying special plates, motorists can add a personalized character combination to their plates using up to seven characters.”

What does the driver wish to communicate with ZZZZZZZ?
What does the drive wish us to take away from the Taijitu?

Inflow and Infiltration (I&I)

pano of the Rivanna River January 10, the left side of frame is looking downstream toward Monticello, the right side of frame is the view upstream.

(if the photo is too small there is video)

7. Since 2006, RWSA, the City, and ACSA have worked together to conduct flow studies, analyze flow data, assess wet weather limitations, calibrate a transmission system computer model, forecast future dry weather flows through land development projections and identify inflow and infiltration reduction goals across all sewer collection systems connected to the Facility. The goal of these projects is to assure adequate capacity in the transmission and treatment systems with emphasis on addressing unpermitted discharges. The three entities are working cooperatively to upgrade their respective sewer collection systems.

Sat, Jan 15, 2011 at 5:53 PM To: Council
Cc: tfrederick@rivanna.org

Dear Councilors,

December 8, during RWSA’s presentation on the Rivanna Pumping Station, I asked Mr. Frederick how much it would cost to repair the inflow and infiltration problems that affect our waste water system (by system I meant all waste water pipes that connect to RWSA’s waste-water treatment plants).

As I understood his response, to get to the optimal industry standard practices fix of our waste water system would cost $400 million, this is the fix where there is still I&I but it is substantially reduced. To actually fix the pipes (make them water-tight, no one does this), would cost around two billion dollars.

Rivanna runs a system, hydration and sanitation. Alas, I can’t think of an apt analogy. My not so accurate way of thinking of it…

“It is like a car. The input side, the water supply, is the gas. Water supply speeds up the economy, we can hook up houses, hook up businesses. The safety side, the sanitation, is like the brakes. The waste-water (output) side must collect and treat the effluent from these houses and businesses.”

Our region has spent a great deal of time/money studying the input side. It is my impression that we have spent less time studying the output side. If I understood Mr. Frederick correctly, a detailed study of the waste-water side would take ten years to perform. The RWSA board in the past (2005) approved an evaluation of the waste-water side, but it’s my impression that that evaluation was not equal to a detailed study.

To me, it makes sense to repair the sanitation side in lock-step with increases on the water-supply side, like balancing a budget. Hope this will happen as we move forward.

Does the 25% I&I reduction by 2020 to which we (RWSA, ACSA, CHO Public Works) have committed achieve that balance?

Thanks,

Bill Emory Charlottesville VA 22902

Palmate Platanus occidentalis

dead leaves
frost formed on the veins of this sycamore leaf making them easy to see.

Platanus occidentalis, also known as American sycamore, American planetree, western plane, occidental plane, buttonwood, and water beech, is a species of Platanus native to the eastern and central United States, the mountains of northeastern Mexico, extreme southern Ontario,and extreme southern Quebec. It is usually called sycamore in North America, a name which can refer to other types of trees in other parts of the world. The American sycamore is a long-lived species, typically surviving at least 200 years and likely as long as 500–600 years.–Wikipedia

end of the road

biking in the highway
Approaching the end of route 354, River Road.
bikers not on bikes
The end of the road is the beginning of the road depending on direction of travel.
norris bridge corrotoman rappahannock white house creek
prizes at the end of the road vary. this time the prize is silence.