Dubai Poop Trucks

Duke Juker · RSBandB Donor since 07/01/2010

Quote:

Decemeber 7, 2011 - Amazingly, Dubai doesn't have a sewage infrastructure to support its skyscrapers, including the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

Drivers said they'd been queuing for three days! [watch above video]

Unsurprising then, that many dump their loads into storm drains that lead directly to the open sea. Tourists are warned of the risk of contracting serious illnesses like typhoid and hepatitis if swimming on Dubai beaches. Wikipedia on sanitation in Dubai.

When I saw the Burj Khalifa in real life I was truly stunned. The tallest skyscraper in the world defies belief. Today I learned something that also defies belief: all the poop produced there has to be removed by trucks.Let's do the math here. The Burj Khalifa has 163 habitable floors. It's designed to hold 35,000 people at any given time. Now, humans produce 100 to 250 grams (3 to 8 ounces) of ***** per day. Let's say 200 in this case, since these people are well fed. That's 7,000,000 grams per day. Seven tonnes of poop per day. Now, add human-produced liquids (pee, bathing, cleaning their teeth...) and the water to push the poop down its miles of sewage pipes. I think a very conservative total would be 15 tonnes of sewage per day.

That's a lot of poop.

And all of it has to be removed by trucks. The trucks take all this poop to a sewage treatement facility outside of the city. It's the same with most skyscrapers in Dubai, according to Kate Ascher, author of The Heights. Talking to Fresh Air's Terry Gross, Kate said that these trucks are in a permanent line waiting to get into the sewage treatment plant, waiting up to 24 hours before they can unload their crap.

You'd think that with all the money in the world and one of the world's most beautiful and advanced cities, they would at least put in a a sewer system. Nope, instead they have this. So the question is are they still first world or third world? Or both? Or in between?

Adbot · **Posted:** December 29th, 2011, 12:27 pm

trekkie · **Posted:** December 29th, 2011, 2:25 pm

i'm still waiting to find a nice house on palm island. they know that their oil will soon dry up, so they are going for being a tourist destination.

Mike · **Posted:** December 29th, 2011, 4:18 pm

I read on this some time ago; it's hard to find more recent information on if it's gotten any better. The investors for these big buildings wanted to get in quick during the rush so they just built before the city was able to provide the proper infrastructure for such large requirements.

Toilet and drains works like normal for people living there, why should should most people take notice in buildings? They wouldn't think of it as third-world. Although, with the long waits, apparently illegal dumping into rainwater drains did become quite common, which, in turn, drains into the ocean. That's quite gross, especially for an area that is being promoted as a tourist area.

Here's the location on maps: Yahoo Maps seems to have the most up to date imagery. They've actually built an allotment to the east of the sewage plant for trucks to wait before they go in. On Google Maps the line is much shorter, maybe it was taken early morning, or more recently if the situation has gotten better. Bing Maps doesn't even have the lot to the east on their map yet, but you can see the long lines of trucks going for about a mile to both the west and east.