View Full Version : Bad news for aluminium boat owners.
Chain Fox
10-07-2002, 07:58 PM
One of my customers works for the EPA.His background,while working for ConEd in Illinois, includes setting up and managing the cooling lakes in northern Illinois.He is also responsible for the walleye stocking on the Rock River(IL.)and partialy responsible for the walleye fishery stocking program on the Miss.River at the Qaud cities.Years ago he alerted me to a new study,particularly on the Illinois River and the Miss.River below the Twin Cities regarding human female hormones in the river from sanatary discharges stations.These are not treated in discharge water and,due to "the pill" are in alarming high numbers.(but that's a different story) He has recently told me the EPA is seeing a change in the ph in same waters,particularly the Illinois which has been at a "low flow" stage most of the time since spring.It seems our obsession with clean toilet bowls has flushed too much acid,from toilet cleaners, into the rivers which can ,and will,corrode an aluminium hull.Unpainted ones,like old Lunds,are most vunerable.This water will,eventually,eat your trailer,too.However,owners of fiberglass boat will find this same river water to be a find cleaning agent and,after a quick wipe,leave a brilliant shine.I now know why me last two boats had leaking rivets and"washboard"bottoms.I wonder if the toilet water rotted the transom and floors,too?
Jethro
10-07-2002, 08:05 PM
Er, sure thing Chief.
Hormones from women on the pill rusting Lunds,eh?
I hear Godzilla is headed toward Tokyo as well.
And my brother knows this guy who picked up a girl, when he woke up, she was gone, but had written on the mirror in lipstick,"Welcome to AIDs".
Oh, and what about the AIDs tainted needles in theatre seats and on gas pump handles?
Or the "gang initiation" where they crawl under your car and slash your ankles while you pump gas?
Yep, a fella has to be careful....
LOL
guide#7
10-07-2002, 08:36 PM
Hey Jethro, I was with ya until the ankle slashing deal. This has gone on in central minnesota. not really gang related, but ruthless immigrants bringing their homelife to the states. Like the Godzilla scare though. ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
7 out
JohnF
10-07-2002, 09:32 PM
Actually this turns out to not be that much of a problem. A quick thinking engineer noticed that the acid is a very good electrolyte and the local officials have begun a process of quietly lining the rivers with giant sheets of zinc. Boat owners "in the know" are easily identified by the large metallic balls they drag around on metal wire used to make electrical contact with the zinc lining thereby protecting the aluminum hull. I've actually heard that some boat owners are hiding this process by using a smaller contact "weight" hung by a wire they hold in their hand and keep on a reel mounted to the boat.
I have to laugh... The funniest part of this is that there are fiberglass boat owners that don't understand the reasoning for this and they have taken up like practice for fear of getting behind the Jones'. Monkey see monkey do I guess...
John
Dutchman
10-08-2002, 04:55 AM
My god this is a shocker!!! Female body substances in the water!!!!Don't they know that before to long all of the fish will start to smell that way :)
" Fishing is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope "
The female hormone thing is legit. Screws up the sexual organs in fish and fish eaters. Well documented in England. You will be hearing more about it over the next 20 yrs. Do a search on endocine disruptors for detail.
BlackSilver
10-08-2002, 08:45 AM
Yes, and it's been found in beer too.
U of M did a test where they took 10 previously healthy men and fed them each a 12 pack of beer. The female hormones were so strong in the beer that 9 of these ten guys suddenly couldn't do simple math problems, drive their trucks, or carry on a meaningful conversations about walleye fishing.
Walk softly and carry a big fish.
Hans/MN
That would explain why the big spawners get *****y once a month and strike voraciously at anything in their path. Especially the small inocent male who gets blind sided. So much for fishing moon phases, I'm going to hit the river every 28 days after a good bite..
Fish_on
10-08-2002, 10:41 AM
Relax guys I took care of the problem. I just had a semi load of tampons dumped into the water. That should clear it right up.
Get back to work now.
bigfish1965
10-08-2002, 11:04 AM
Up here in Canada, we had a similar problem....we fixed it up by dumping Midol and chocolate truffles into the lake. Is all good now, except we noticed the river flows a bit slower as it passes the mall.
Chain Fox
10-08-2002, 11:57 AM
The point regarding female hormones was to say that urine and fecal matter are treated but not everything that goes down the toilet is treated.These hormones will not hurt your Lund but do affect male fish,particularly large predators.It's the Tidy Bowl that will eat your Lund! You can smell it in the water!If you don't believe me,spray some on ans see what happens.
targa2
10-08-2002, 04:26 PM
All this talk about female hormones is making me horny.....I'll be back in a minute....
I think the female hormones probably came from the guys wizzin over the side of their glass boats!
T-Mac
10-08-2002, 07:28 PM
ROTFLMAO!
Hahahahaha... Sorry ladies...but, this is one of the funniest threads ever!
Steve
10-09-2002, 05:26 AM
Hmmm hormones oaffecting Male fish? Well...let's get the viagra and dump it in the river. Iwould almost bet that the male fish would be HARD pressed not to bite then....
Heck...we could even be Ice fishing since we would have hard water...
Hey Culligan Man?!!!
Womans pee
10-09-2002, 10:27 AM
Can't you come up with a better one than that? How come it's not been talked about here if it's a problem in another country? Do they have different birth control? pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeeee!! !!!!!
yea right
10-09-2002, 10:59 AM
I bet you that "SS" and "chain fox" are the same people. I guess the fish row becomes unable to be fertalized since they are all on birth control. Those are awful big words for a trouble starter. What should we fish out of, a hover-craft? Seem as though your can't do aluminum or glass you got rotting hulls and flea infestation. What next?????
Chain Fox
10-09-2002, 06:56 PM
Yea Right,fish out of hip boots for all I care!I'll take you up on that "Fox Chain is SS"bet! I admit I started the thread as a retaliation to "F/G beware" and used the hormone thing to strenghten my point of my joke.I do not who "SS" is but he knows the name of the problem which is more then I can remember.The hormone thing is real.The person I mentioned in the original post is not fictious. I will refer to him by name,in later posts,after I ask his permission to do so.For my Fox Chain friends;this fish biologist/management expert keeps his 16' Sylvan at Halings lagoon and may not be a great fisherman but possesses a great deal of info.of value to us all.To all those with no sense of humor or closed minds,stick your heads back in the sand! Fishing should be fun,whether it's in the boat or on the cumputer!
If the chlorides or bleach is strong enough to attack the aluminum, you'd better not have an SS prop. I work around bleach tanks and chlorides and they use plastic lined pipe because it eats SS. Imagine what it will do to your Motorguide and PinPoint trolling motor shafts. OMG
Sounds like you been watching too many Hee Haw reruns.........Gloom, despair, agony on me.WHOOAAAAAA.Deep dark depression, excessive misery.
WestCoaster
10-09-2002, 11:41 PM
OK.......so being serious for just a sec,....let's look at the situation a little closer. This scenario would require that particulate solids.....i.e. human waste, paper product remnants, condoms, hot wheels cars and all other things flushed to be settled out and eliminated from the waste water. I'm ok with that. Now the water could contain other chemical constituents....acids, bases, and McDonalds milkshakes, which no one has figured out since they don't melt in direct sunlight. For the effluent from the water treatment plants to contain enough calcium hypochlorite, or ammonium hydroxide, or dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, or linear alcohol ethoxylates, or 2-butoxy ethanol, or quaternary ammonium compounds, or other chemicals found in household cleaning products, so as to change the pH enough to etch aluminum is ridiculous. There are standards for toxics releases in sewage outfalls, and although not knowing what those minimum requirements are exactly, I'm sure they are regulated such that they don't pose aquatic ecosystem toxicity concerns, and certainly don't approach levels to harm humans or their positive water displacement, refined bauxite recreational craft. I for one, would be very interested to look at water analysis data for the body of water you mentioned. If it's acidic enough to destroy the aluminum hull of your friends boat, and isn't an effect from galvanic corrosion or ionic disassociation, I'd be concerned for everything in that ecosystem. Anyway,....I'm sure the EPA is looking into it already.
SDDoc
10-10-2002, 07:31 AM
the sad part is I understand every you said in your reply. I just wonder this, When it really hot, and there is an airstream convention near by, do all those shiney trailers get pock marks there from the condensation in the morning? Do the Planes flying through the clouds east of illinois have a similar problem? Pondering in SD
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/isfe/abstracts/ISFE-ab3.22.00.223.html
http://biology.usgs.gov/pr/newsrelease/1996/2-14.html
I'll take part of that bet. I am not familiar with the subject drainage basin and its contributary flows, thus didn't have much to add on the corrosion subject. Direct discharger pH limits are typically 6-9 S.U. All the wastewater plant effluent data I've seen shows pH values close to 7. There are other factors to consider - my City tap water sometimes corrodes Al pop cans or pots fast (within days.)
I do apologize to any who might have made an effort to educate themselves before poking fun, a simple search on endocine disruptors didn't get anything. Read the second link 1st, then check out the last couple of paragraphs of the 1st one.
If there is further interest, I will dig up info that clearly documents the extent of the problem in regards to fish living downstream of WWTP's. It is the real deal. Here is a teaser, I specifically picked the 2nd link because it may appeal to some of the jokesters.
SS/Silentsixty
If your not part of the solution...(pick 3 endings)
http://www2.gol.com/users/bobkeim/pesticides/colborn.html
My goof - endocrine disruptors not endocine.
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/isfe/abstracts/ISFE-ab3.22.00.223.html
http://biology.usgs.gov/pr/newsrelease/1996/2-14.html
I am not familiar with the subject drainage basin and its contributary flows, thus didn't have much to add on the corrosion subject. Direct discharger pH limits are typically 6-9 S.U. All the wastewater plant effluent data I've seen shows pH values close to 7. There are other water chemistry factors to consider - my City tap water sometimes corrodes Al pop cans or pots fast (within days), yet I drink it and use it in fish tanks.
I do apologize to any who might have made an effort to educate themselves before poking fun, a simple search on endocine disruptors doesn't get anything since it is really spelled endocrine. Skim through the 1st link, then read the 3rd one,check out the last paragraph of the 2nd one.
If there is further interest, I will dig up info that clearly documents the extent of the problem in regards to fish living downstream of WWTP's. Here is a teaser, I specifically picked the 3rd link because it may appeal to some of the jokesters.
SS/Silentsixty