I know I am new to the area and there is much I have yet to learn, but when I received my first full sewer/water bill today, I was shocked at the amount. The bill is literally about three times what I am used to paying.

The breakdown: 1) city sewer charge, 2) LOTT treatment, 3) resident base rate, 4) water consumption, 5) storm water, 6) utility tax.

Essentially this seems to mean that we pay to transport the sewage material from our residences, to treat the sewage at the LOTT facility, an obligatory "base rate" which has not been fully explained to my satisfaction, general water consumption, storm water, and finally a utility tax as the grand finale.

If I didn't know better I would think that either we have a brand spanking new waste water treatment plant and the facility is passing startup costs on to the consumer, OR there is some sort of sewer treatment Cosa Nostra profiting mightily on Oly effluent.

Strub guessed that about 10-15%, or 100,000 to 150,000 gallons per hour, of that was actual human waste, adding, "that's really impossible to know right now, and is based on normal calculations."

This is not a normal scenario.

"This is the first time in 16 years we've seen anything like this." Strub stated. The treatment plant is designed to handle no more than 30 million gallons of untreated water per day, and the initial deluge was near 79 million gallons, completely overwhelming the system. Letting the water flow into Bud Inlet is the only real option, as the only other scenario forces the under-treated water into downtown Olympia, which would cause a health and comfort disaster.

Keep an eye on this post for a follow-up tomorrow.