Sewers

It's not the poo - it's the plastic bag.

Don't you have biodegradable bags in your country?

If you throw anything in a trashcan, depending on your country's recycling protocol, it will usually end up in landfill. Which is why you should use biodegradable plastic bags for your dog's shit, and any other non-recyclable garbage.

If you live in a place that sends non-recyclable waste into rivers, streams or the ocean, you should consider moving.

I may be wrong, but I thought storm/water sewers weren't the same thing as sewage/waste sewers.

I use a paper bag.

I don't get the wet wipes thing. Why can't they be flushed?

R6 - they don't break down.

I'm old and remember when cesspools existed. Nasty.

R4 is correct. Things actually enter the sewer by being flushed or washed down a drain. Those openings under the sidewalk are storm drains, not sewers. They lead directly to the ocean/river or other flood channel for your area. You should never put anything in them, or wash things like spilled oil down them.

Normally, there is a stormwater system and a separate sewer system. Rubbish of any kind that is lying around on sidewalks and grass will eventually get washed into the stormwater system, if it isn't eaten by birds or flies first. If it's litter or dog poo this is bad because the contents of the stormwater system are not usually treated, just funnelled into canals and waterways.

Unless it's in poor repair or there is a major flood, things only really get into the sewer system by being flushed. The first stage of treatment at a sewage treatment plant is to remove large foreign objects like plastic or paper bags, etc, but if the dog poo is tied up in them it's going to end up wherever that rubbish is disposed of, which is likely landfill anyway. If dog poo by itself is in a sewer it'll just get treated like other poo. I can't see any reason why it shouldn't belong there.

The key thing would be never to flush anything in a bag down a toilet.

r9, do you think birds, squirrels, etc. know or care if they are pooping in a place near a sewer or stormwater system?

This thread is exhausting.

[quote]I may be wrong, but I thought storm/water sewers weren't the same thing as sewage/waste sewers.

THIS. Storm drains are not sewers. There is no filtering if you just toss a plastic bag into a street storm drain. It goes right out to the ocean or river unfiltered. No time to break down. This is how you end up with beaches that have bacteria outbreaks, trash and hypodermic needles on the beach.

Bird poop is different because it's a lot smaller, most of it stays on land and biodegrades into the grass or dirt.

r13, birds have been known to poop on the street, and when it rains that runs into the storm drain.

Yes, r14, birds poop everywhere, but it's not the same as walking your dog on the sidewalk which is where everyone walks their dog. Birds poop in the mountains to but no one takes their dog up there every day just for that. And no one fallows a bird around with a plastic bag that takes forever to break down.

You are not going to win this argument that if birds do it, then why bother. If that's your theory, why dont we just get rid of the sewer system and have all our toilets drain into the storm drains as well. Or better yet, lets just have a trough in the middle of the street like the middle ages.