Spotted this sewer Downtown today that was filled with a very bright green liquid. A better (but slightly more disgusting) view of the green liquid in the sewer is below. These colors haven’t been altered. It appears to be some sort of chemical, but it looks like there’s a lot of it. Given that Downtown sewers drain to the Ohio River, this can’t be good for the environment. [UPDATE: Officials with MSD contacted us to say the color is a harmless chemical used to track leaks in the sewer system.]
Founder and Editor at Broken Sidewalk
Branden founded Broken Sidewalk in 2008 while practicing architecture in Louisville. He continued the site for seven years while living in New York City, returning to Louisville in 2016. Branden is a graduate of the College of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, and has covered architecture, design, and urbanism for The Architect's Newspaper, Designers & Books, Inhabitat, and the American Institute of Architects.
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We should watch out for four turtles and a giant rat practicing karate in the near future!
anyone call msd to ask? where downtown is this?
Looks like the dye MSD uses to diagnose failures.
You’re right, Bill. Someone from MSD replied to my e.mail today and explained the dye. It’s bright, but harmless. I hadn’t seen such a dye before in the sewers and it looked a little bit like the green antifreeze they sell nowadays. Still keep a look out for turtle vs rat karate, though. The drain is located on Washington Street at the foot of Seventh Street by the floodwall, but after today’s rain, I’m not sure if it’s still there.
These dyes are used to track the flow of sewers, rivers, groundwater, and runoff. They are not polluting except for the color and that fades in hours to days – some of them are tested and approved for drinking water. Here’s one manufacturer’s page http://www.brightdyes.com/