480 Swimming Pools

So all this talk about dewatering mine water being discharged into or near the Puget Sound is interesting, but how much water is that, really? 

According to the Herrera Report prepared in October, 2005, 15 cubic feet per second (CFS), (averaging 6.5 million gallons per day) will be discharged by CalPortland, untreated, into or near the Puget Sound.  Here is how to figure how much this really is:

1 CFS equals ..............................................448.8 Gallons Per Minute
448.8 multiplied by 15 .................................Equals  6,732 Gallons Per Minute
6,732 multiplied by 60 (minutes)...................Equals 403,920 Gallons Per Hour
403,920 multiplied by 24 (hours)...................Equals 9,694,080 Gallons Per Day

The average backyard swimming pool measures 16 X 32, is 8.5' at the deep end, 3' at the shallow end, and contains 20,000 gallons of water if rectangular in shape.

So, if you divide 9,694,080 by 20,000, this equals approximately 480.

This means, if allowed to dewater (remove the water) from the South Parcel expansion area, CalPortland will discharge 480 swimming pools of untreated water, each day, near the Puget Sound where Orca whales and salmon and a host of other species live that will soon be part of the Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve.

That's a lot of water!  Is this a good idea for our community, our environment, or the Puget Sound? We say, no.

Sources:
How Much Water is in a Swimming Pool?
Water Table Conversion
SURFACE WATER AND GEOMORPHOLOGY TECHNICAL REPORT, Pioneer Aggregates Mining Expansion and North Sequalitchew Project-The Herrera Report