BEIRUT: Flush a toilet in Beirut and the waste water is piped out a kilometer into the Mediterranean and expelled into the sea. Flush the toilet just about anywhere else, however, and the waste is deposited just a few meters away, using the nation’s coastline as a giant toilet bowl.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/Jun-10/219836-lebanons-beaches-swimming-with-waste.ashx#ixzz2W0aSQ8NP
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
And that's the GOOD news. Strangely, the rocks we jump from land us in the safest water in the area. This article is disturbing, to say the least. The following paragraph was equally troubling, but no surprise:
There are almost no water treatment plants in operation anywhere along the coast. Wastewater from all the major coastal cities is exhausted straight into the sea. Even water from the hinterland goes into the waterways untreated and eventually pollutes the coast.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/Jun-10/219836-lebanons-beaches-swimming-with-waste.ashx#ixzz2W0b3ESHw
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Fecal matter is over the top in most swimming areas, except, ironically, in the waters off Beirut, where we swim. We have a sewage pipe that carries the stuff 1 kilometer out into the Mediterranean before it dumps, leaving the coast area here relatively "clean".
Now for the nitty gritty...
I learned quickly after I arrived that NO PAPER should go down a drain, as in toilet paper. Waste paper containers are found in all bathrooms to collect used toilet paper. And to think that every flush ends up where the sea turtles roam? Rather grotesque. The good news is it dissipates out in the sea, leaving the beaches safer to swim in around here.
Like so much else in Lebanon, looks are deceptive.
We have police with their machine guns on corners and loaded in trucks, making the rounds. But there is very little regulation, not only of water run off / sewage, but of driving or parking. People double park, triple park on occasion, park on sidewalks, and drive any speed they reach on straight aways. A red signal light means watch out; traffic does not necessarily stop here for red lights. Pedestrian beware. Not that drivers are aiming for you, just that a red light means they'll go if there's no one coming from the other direction.
There are many quirky things that you get used to in Lebanon... so we dance on the buses while drinking, ride in taxis without working seat belts, and marvel at the norm:: cyclists and motorcycle drivers without helmets.
I saw this sight on the highway coming back to Beirut from Tyre. What do you think?
Five men hanging on to the roof mounts of a smallish sedan. They were having a great time up there standing up, dancing, and shouting at other drivers.... I couldn't believe it!
It's the blessed weekend, 3 school days to go, and I'm meeting Ingrid for an early morning swim!
Nice to know we live in a "clean water area".
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/Jun-10/219836-lebanons-beaches-swimming-with-waste.ashx#ixzz2W0aSQ8NP
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
And that's the GOOD news. Strangely, the rocks we jump from land us in the safest water in the area. This article is disturbing, to say the least. The following paragraph was equally troubling, but no surprise:
There are almost no water treatment plants in operation anywhere along the coast. Wastewater from all the major coastal cities is exhausted straight into the sea. Even water from the hinterland goes into the waterways untreated and eventually pollutes the coast.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/Jun-10/219836-lebanons-beaches-swimming-with-waste.ashx#ixzz2W0b3ESHw
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Fecal matter is over the top in most swimming areas, except, ironically, in the waters off Beirut, where we swim. We have a sewage pipe that carries the stuff 1 kilometer out into the Mediterranean before it dumps, leaving the coast area here relatively "clean".
Now for the nitty gritty...
I learned quickly after I arrived that NO PAPER should go down a drain, as in toilet paper. Waste paper containers are found in all bathrooms to collect used toilet paper. And to think that every flush ends up where the sea turtles roam? Rather grotesque. The good news is it dissipates out in the sea, leaving the beaches safer to swim in around here.
Like so much else in Lebanon, looks are deceptive.
We have police with their machine guns on corners and loaded in trucks, making the rounds. But there is very little regulation, not only of water run off / sewage, but of driving or parking. People double park, triple park on occasion, park on sidewalks, and drive any speed they reach on straight aways. A red signal light means watch out; traffic does not necessarily stop here for red lights. Pedestrian beware. Not that drivers are aiming for you, just that a red light means they'll go if there's no one coming from the other direction.
There are many quirky things that you get used to in Lebanon... so we dance on the buses while drinking, ride in taxis without working seat belts, and marvel at the norm:: cyclists and motorcycle drivers without helmets.
I saw this sight on the highway coming back to Beirut from Tyre. What do you think?
Five men hanging on to the roof mounts of a smallish sedan. They were having a great time up there standing up, dancing, and shouting at other drivers.... I couldn't believe it!
It's the blessed weekend, 3 school days to go, and I'm meeting Ingrid for an early morning swim!
Nice to know we live in a "clean water area".
No comments:
Post a Comment