Originally published at: Sewage pipe explodes and drenches all nearby in liquid ordure - Boing Boing
…
“During a pressure test”? Wouldn’t it seem like a good idea to pressure test it with water instead of liquid ordure?
I really should not have clicked on that video while eating my breakfast.
Most explosive poo explosion I have ever seen. I can’t even begin to imagine the stench that came about from that in the area.
IANAE (engineer) but shouldn’t a test be arranged not to include the catastrophic failure exactly for which you’re testing to guard against? (“you don’t know the real disaster they had in mind, now do ya?”)
I’ve heard the term “shitstorm” for years.
Finally we have video of one.
It is possible that the pressure test was being conducted on an unused or new branch of the sewer, and the test plug leading to the active sewer failed.
Although, with the size and ferocity of the shit plume, it would have to have been a massive test. Here in the US, I use only 5 psi of air pressure, or ten feet of water column(which are pretty equivalent). For 5 psi of air to do this, the area of tested pipe would have to be very large, and the failure would have to have been instant.
I had a sewage pipe like this explode in the building I worked in. It produced a 5 foot arc of liquid unpleasantness, with a smell that defies description. The building was evacuated and fire dept was called (not sure why?) and about 2 hours later it was fixed. We were asked to finish out the day, despite the building reeking like a methane factory.
True, but ‘testing to destruction’ is more fun.