Spa Creek Series: Shipwright Runs Downhill by cds Traditional Geocache

Spa Creek was once known as Carroll's Creek, in reference to Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who lived along the creek. The creek was also known as Todd's Creek and Acton's Creek, named after Thomas Todd and Richard Acton, respectively, who were amongst the first settlers in Annapolis. In 1904, the United States Board on Geographic Names made the name Spa Creek official for usage in federal publications. The current name purportedly originates “from the fact that an old pork barrel was placed in a spring on Primrose farm, and the deluded public, tasting the essence of the meat, concluded that the spring had medicinal qualities in it, and called the fountain Spa Spring. Hence, the name of the creek.” ('Maryland - The Pioneer of Religious Liberty: The Only Catholic Colony of the Thirteen and the First to Establish Civil and Religious Freedom' By Elihu Samuel Riley, 1917)

You read that right. Annapolis' premier creek is named in honor of BACON.

Shi(pwrigh)t Runs Downhill

Nationwide, more than 850 billion gallons of raw or untreated sewage reach our streams, rivers, and lakes every year. In 2015, there were over 1300 raw sewage spills reported across Maryland.

Much of the nation's sanitary sewage collection infrastructure is between 30 and 100 years old. The major causes leading to sanitary sewer overflows include age, lack of maintenance, poor operational procedures, and inadequate flow capacity. Many older sewer systems are combined sanitary and storm sewers, which can quickly be overwhelmed during heavy rain events, discharging overflows to nearby water bodies and carrying raw sewage with it. In Maryland, 40 percent of overflows reported in dry weather are blamed on grease, rags, trash and 'other inappropriate material' in the sewer, according to information local agencies supply to the state Department of the Environment.

Flushable wipes are not actually flushable. (OK, technically they will flush. But so will golf balls.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/flushable-personal-wipes-clogging-sewer-systems-utilities-say/2013/09/06/9efac4e6-157a-11e3-a2ec-b47e45e6f8ef_story.html

Raw sewage contains disease-causing pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, worms, and protozoa. Diseases resulting from enteric pathogens range from stomach flu and upper respiratory infections to potentially life-threatening illnesses such as cholera, dysentery, Hepatitis B, and cryptosporidiosis.

Yay. Puppies and rainbows. Aren't you glad you picked this cache.

Sources:

http://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/sso_casestudy_control.pdf

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-sewer-overhaul-20150904-story.html

http://www.americanrivers.org/initiative/stormwater-sewage/projects/sewage-problems-and-solutions/

http://www.mde.state.md.us/programs/Water/OverFlow/Pages/ReportedSewerOverflow.aspx