Tag Archives: water

Richmond Canal Walk

Posted on by

I am continuing my quest to see all the state capitols. I am in Richmond this weekend to see the Virginia state capitol. However, today, I just wandered around. I spent most of the day walking along and near the Richmond canal walk. Richmond has a couple of disjointed canal that were originally part of a large system so that ships could avoid the James River rapids. The canal walk is lovely. The original building of the canal and the restoration of it are impressive engineering projects. They have restored much of the system, and you can even take a boat ride along part of it. [I did, and some of those photos are included.] Railroads and then highways were built alongside and on top of parts of the canal system. My tour guide on the boat ride noted that there is one part where you can see 18th century (the canal), 19th century (the railroad), and 20th century (the highway) transportation systems all in a single frame. I thought that was an interesting and insightful observation. The canal also is both inside and outside the Richmond flood wall, which is another impressive piece of engineering. A canal was built to bypass the James River rapids, and a wall was built to protect against James River floods.

Entrance to the first (most downstream) lock in the canal system.
The first (most downstream) lock in the system. The lock is full and beyond is the James River. The area is now a park.
A pool just beyond the first lock, now part of a park
Old railroad bridge over canal
“The Lowline” is hike and bike trail along an elevated railroad next to the canal.
“The Lowline” is hike and bike trail along an elevated railroad next to the canal.
Part of the canal is inside the Richmond flood wall, which has a gate seen here for boats to pass in and out of the flood wall.
The canal is below railroads and highways in parts.
The turning basin where you can catch a boat ride, see to the left.
Pedestrian walks along the canal. Much of the canal is only a couple of feet deep.
Abandoned buildings are alongside the canal. This one has numerous original murals.
Canal walk near Brown’s Island.

F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant

Posted on by

The F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant was one of my top two reasons for coming to Doors Open Toronto. Sadly, no wastewater treatment plants were open for the event, as I find them more interesting than water treatment plants. However, water treatment plants are still interesting. This plant was even more interesting than I initially thought it would be because I am fairly this is the first water treatment plant I have been to where they use ozone for the initial disinfectant. This is the second water treatment plant I have visited in Toronto. The first Doors Open Toronto I came to, I visited the absolutely magnificent R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant. F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant is not as beautiful, but it is interesting none the less.

The plant’s water intake is from pipes in Lake Ontario over 2 km from shore. It is then pumped to the plant and then up from the pipes which are (I think) nine stories below the surface. The plant sits on cliffs high above the water surface. Ozone is added to the water. Ozone disinfects the water. The ozone is made at the treatment plant from liquid oxygen. Before the water leaves the tanks where is contacts ozone, sodium bisulfite is added to remove any left over ozone.

Ozone generation unit from liquid oxygen and electricity
Ozone is piped to water contact units

Coagulant is then added to the water. Coagulant causes certain ions and tiny particles to start to come together to make bigger particles, which are easier to filter out. The water is pumped to sediment filters. The filters have a lower sand layer topped with a carbon layer. The filter tanks are huge, but so are the pipes in the building.

Gigantic water pipe conveying water (I think) to the filter tanks
This is a horrible photo because is taken through glass with wire lining, but that is water in the filter tanks. The filters are at the bottom, and I think blue plastic thing is the trough where the backwash goes when the unit is backwashed.
Another horrible photo taken through glass, but on the left side is an empty filter tank, and on the right side is a filter tank with water.
Low pressure air pipes in the filtration gallery
Gigantic air pipes running through the main part of the building

After the water has been cleaned, chlorine is added. The water has already been disinfected at this point, but a residual disinfectant is needed to kill any bacteria the water may encounter in the distribution system on its way to customers.

Sea of Cortez Cetaceans

Posted on by

First off, the reason why I am titling this post cetaceans, is that I can’t remember if they naturalists on the ship decided these were whales or dolphins. While on my ill-fated trip to Baja California, the ship passed cetaceans several times, and several times the cetaceans came to ride our bow wave. It was so fun to see them. I decided to post some of the better photos that I took. If anyone can identify which specific cetaceans these are, I will happily update my post. Also, in some of the up-close photos of them riding the ship’s bow wave, remora fish stuck onto the cetaceans are visible.

Pod of cetaceans

Pod of cetaceans

Pod of cetaceans

Pod of cetaceans

Pod of cetaceans

Cetaceans riding the bow wave

Cetaceans riding the bow wave

Cetaceans riding the bow wave with visible remora fish

Cetaceans riding the bow wave with visible remora fish

Cetaceans riding the bow wave

Snorkeling with Sea Lions

Posted on by

One of the things I was able to do while on my short cruise in the Sea of Cortez was to go snorkeling with sea lions. There is a small island, which is more of a large rock outcropping, were birds and sea lions live. The water beneath is filled with fish, otherwise why would the birds and sea lions be there. People are allowed to snorkel in the area, but they are not allowed to dive there. We were even required to wear a slightly inflated flotation vest to prevent us from diving. We were also warned that the sea lions are quite playful. They are known to like to gnaw on people, like a puppy might when playing. I got gnawed on at my wrist. Then either the same sea lion of another gnawed on my ankle and kept going right up to my thigh.

The sea lions are amazing to watch. They are so swift and fast. They are extremely hydrodynamic. They are cute and playful. Although the gnawing didn’t break the surface of my skin and didn’t hurt too much, I could have done without the gnawing.

These are not the best photos I have ever taken, but GoPros are only point and shoot. Still I though I would present some of the better ones.

Sea lion gnawing on someone’s elbow

Sea lion

Sea lion swims right in front of my face

Sea lion

Sea lions

Sea lion

Sea lion cuddling (?) with someone

Sea lion gnawing on someone’s fin

Sea lions

Sea lion

Sea lion

Sea lions

Sea lion

Sea lion

Sea lion

Sacramento River Cruise

Posted on by

While exploring Sacramento, I decided a river cruise would be a great way to see the city, considering the city is on the banks of two rivers. A river cruise was definitely a lovely way to get a different perspective of the city. The cruise only went on the Sacramento River, as my guess is the American River is even more shallow than the Sacramento, which is only about 12 feet deep. The engineering highlights of the cruise were going under two different bridges, the I Street Bridge, which is a swing bridge, and the Tower Bridge, which is a vertical lift bridge. The cruise also went under a boring stationary bridge, the I-80 bridge. The cruise also passed by both the old and new water intake pumping stations, where river water is pumped to the water treatment plant.

I Street Bridge

Bridge over the American River

Docks and condominiums line parts of the river

Drainage outlets from nearby canal

Downtown Sacramento

Old water intake tower and pumping station

New water intake pumping station

Downtown Sacramento

Tower Bridge

Penobscot Narrows Bridge

Posted on by

While traveling though Maine, we drove over the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, which is a lovely cable-stayed bridge. Cable-stayed bridges are my favorite kind of bridges. I love their simple elegance and functionality. The Penobscot Narrows Bridge is unique in that it has an observatory on top of one of the pylons. Who would have thought to put an observatory on top of a pylon? Next to the bridge, you can also walk onto a small portion of the old Waldo-Hancock Bridge. The Waldo-Hancock Bridge was suspension bridge built in 1931. It ultimately had to be taken down due to heavy corrosion of the main cables. The Waldo-Hancock Bridge was replaced with the Penobscot Narrows Bridge in 2006.

A thunderstorm passed by right before we entered the pylon, so in the below photos taken from the observatory, there are some of out of focus areas. I waited until the storm passed before taking the photos, but the windows still had raindrops on the glass, so the photos are not completely clear.

Penobscot Narrows Bridge

Small deck of the former Waldo-Hancock Bridge

Looking south from the base of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge pylon

Looking north from the base of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge pylon to an old pier of the Waldo-Hancock Bridge

Looking east from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge pylon observatory

Looking north from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge pylon observatory

Looking south from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge pylon observatory

Looking west from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge pylon observatory

Acadia National Park

Posted on by

While visiting Maine, we took a whirlwind trip though Acadia National Park. The park is spectacular. There are wonderful views from Cadillac Mountain and along the coast. While we were there, a fog rolled in and provided mysterious and obscured views. Based on the views, I have come to the realization that Maine’s coast is just a series of rock outcroppings.

View from Cadillac Mountain

View from Cadillac Mountain, to the left is the sand bar of Bar Harbor.

View from Cadillac Mountain

View from Cadillac Mountain

Pink granite cliffs

Pink granite cliffs with river rock beach

Fog settling over boats in harbor

Hudson River Valley by Train

Posted on by

I just got back from a very short trip to Albany, but the main reason I went to Albany was for the train ride up there. Amtrak has several train routes that go from New York City to Albany. I have taken two of these routes before, and I just love the view. I spend almost the entire time staring out the window at the gorgeous Hudson River, which can be seen during the vast majority of the ride. Below are a few photos I took on the route. The first six were taken on the train ride up to Albany as a storm was passing through and the sun was setting. The last three were taken on the way back down to New York City.

Tappan Zee Bridge, old one being deconstructed in front and new one in back

Near Tappan Zee

Bannerman Castle

view of area near Saugerties

view of area near Catskill

view of area near Catskill

Hudson Lighthouse

US Military Academy (West Point)

Bear Mountain Bridge

Regents Canal

Posted on by

I posted yesterday about my boat ride on along the Regents Canal from Camden Locks to Little Venice. Today I went for a very short walk along the same canal in the Camden Locks area. It really is a pretty area. It is also a very popular area. There were many people walking along the towpath, and there were also many people just hanging around the area.

Camden Locks

London Water Bus docked near Camden Market

Bridge next to Camden Locks

Homes along Regents Canal

Boats moored on canal

One of many bridges over the canal

London Canals

Posted on by

London surprises me in several ways. One of those ways is the number of canals, and the number of boats that still use those canals. I don’t think there is a lot of commercial transportation using the canals, but there are at least a couple of boats that run routes from point A to point B. Then there are also people who seem to live on their boat, and of course people who rent them for a short excursion. I took the London Water Bus on the Regents Canal from Camden Locks to Little Venice. The route went past the zoo, stately homes, and apartment buildings. It even went through a tunnel. A nice enjoyable ride, and a very different side of London.

Near the Camden Locks

One of the prettier bridges we went under

Passing and identical boat as the one I was in

Gorgeous homes

Apartment buildings near the tunnel

Inside the tunnel

Near Little Venice