Ask HN: GitHub Copilot down?

I talked to a woman who worked for the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power (LADWP) at a party once and she told me about some of the things they find in the sewers. The ones I remember are tampons, a dead horse, and money.

ProllyInfamous · 3h ago

I spent the first six months of my apprenticeship working in lift stations ("lift" poop up every mile or so, so gravity can keep sludge moving").

The item missing from the article that disgusted me most was the massive amount of tampons which found themselves ejected from the semi-solid pumps. From afar, they appear to be a moat of dead mice. It was literally somebody's job to shovel these up, as nothing more than routine.

Who is still tossing these/trash into toilets?

wodenokoto · 1h ago

I believe a lot of them still says “flushable”, even though the plumber disagrees.

SoftTalker · 3h ago

> Who is still tossing these/trash into toilets?

Most women who use them? Sit down, pull it out, drop it, flush. It's the easiest thing.

throwway120385 · 2h ago

Sometimes they just fall out.

ProllyInfamous · 3h ago

Please use (or provide) the little trashcan that ought'ta sit next to any toilet.

This "simple" action far exceeds half of sewage maintenance budgets.

Only flush TP, liquids, and poop — does not matter if sewer / septic.

Src: former sewer pump repair guy; have had a $eptic $ystem ruined by gue$t tampon$.

kulahan · 1h ago

This requires a PSA, not internet comments. And honestly, I imagine people are willing to pay the extra maintenance dollars to not have to take that extra step. We all appreciate some kind of convenience.

deadbabe · 1h ago

No.

sho_hn · 2h ago

Maybe I have a particularly florid imagination, but it's hard to believe that tampons would be the most digusting thing found in sewers. I mean, they rank far below even just fecal matter on the icky scale.

My anticipation for shock and & are for clicking this thread is so far not met.

ProllyInfamous · 2h ago

Poop doesn't really exist very long. Neither does toilet paper. Mostly, it amalgamates into "sludge."

Tampons don't succumb to the namesake maserators, and are instead ejected (there is a foreign debris port for anything that doesn't drip out centrifugally).

Within the darker corners of sewerlines you find the fat plaques, which are disgusting (but pass through the pumps in smaller pieces). But...

Tampons everywhere. There's even moats to catch 'em all.

comrade1234 · 6h ago

Here in Zürich? Mostly cocaine...

https://www.eawag.ch/en/info/portal/news/news-detail/drugs-a...

cruffle_duffle · 5h ago

There are surprisingly few YouTubers down in the sewers but if you look you’ll find them.

The best is some guy in Czechia who routinely explores the vast trunk sewers under Brno, Prague and others. Often times he will visit during a rain storm and watch the combined sewer overflows do their thing. It gets pretty wild down there!

Up until about a year ago it was all in Czech but recently he has been adding English subtitles as well, which are very informative. The dude clearly does a lot of homework before visiting.

Examples: https://youtu.be/GQtzYgH8buc?si=IldzL7KEEhdObjtJ

https://youtu.be/ZUwXZbkEXWE?si=UmzGMbHXSQAt6hjx

And one of my personal favorites is this absolutely massive CSO which somehow has a plaque memorializing some civil engineer on one of the walls: https://youtu.be/5LVlj-6qwZU?si=lwMdKgVrA7BRuvt2

I highly recommend browsing the channel because there are plenty of videos of him exploring deep sewer tunnels and stuff. Channel: https://youtube.com/@kanalismus35

The other guy I’ll watch goes under London. Not nearly as much content but the “artisan brickwork” down in older London sewers cannot be beat.

https://youtube.com/@valdigger

You’ll occasionally find videos of people going into storm drains and tunnels but those aren’t nearly as interesting in my opinion.

dcminter · 2h ago

I might have to watch the London one - my mind was blown a few years ago to learn that in the Fleet River sewer (storm drain really) you can still see the barge mooring rings from before the river was paved over in the mid-1700s.

alakra · 6h ago

I was slightly hoping this was a piece about ninja turtles.

LargoLasskhyfv · 6h ago

Try https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.H.U.D. instead.

southernplaces7 · 3h ago

Absolute favorite of a B movie, and today something of a historical gem too, showing a grimy, grim Manhattan underworld (literally) that's long gone, or at least more hidden than ever.

lloydatkinson · 3h ago

This was a really fascinating read.

yehoshuapw · 4h ago

what you get out of it, depends on what you put into it

Nifty3929 · 5h ago

bediger4000 · 7h ago

Don't miss footnote 5

LargoLasskhyfv · 7h ago

The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinoline as early porta potty :>

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What We Find in the Sewers

Comments (22)