"Yes, I've scuba dived in the ocean. […] But I prefer it here."
February 27, 2019 6:26 PM Subscribe
Julio César Cu Cámara is a diver who specializes in sewage water diving. He helps maintain Mexico City's highly-complex sewage system, reducing risk in a city with a history of flooding problems. (part of the New York Times' "A Moment In Mexico" collection of short documentaries)
I saw this short doc at the Hot Docs film fest a couple of years ago - it’s quite something on a big screen, and as you would expect, there were a couple of unison “Ughs” from the audience.
It really drives home the degree to which he’s working with zero visibility most of the time.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:45 PM on February 27, 2019
It really drives home the degree to which he’s working with zero visibility most of the time.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:45 PM on February 27, 2019
I see that tag you monster. I've got my eye on you.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 6:49 PM on February 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 6:49 PM on February 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
ok, not sure if I can watch this. Was there a "Fatberg"?
posted by rebent at 7:20 PM on February 27, 2019
posted by rebent at 7:20 PM on February 27, 2019
ok, not sure if I can watch this. Was there a "Fatberg"?
No. However, there is what appears to be the carcass of a cow that was blocking something. Everything that happens while he's under the water (or sewage, rather) is black because there's no visibility. You see them plucking the remains of the cow out with a crane from 6:57 to 7:35.
But I promise - you're safe if you watch from the beginning to about 3:20. All you really see is the surface of the water (again, sewage, rather) which is sort of unremarkable in a weird way in that it consists of tightly-packed flotsam and jetsam of plastic bottles and assorted litter. Everything where he's under the water is just black screen with subtitles - no fatbergs in sight.
It's a really, really great short documentary.
Thanks Johnny!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:40 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
No. However, there is what appears to be the carcass of a cow that was blocking something. Everything that happens while he's under the water (or sewage, rather) is black because there's no visibility. You see them plucking the remains of the cow out with a crane from 6:57 to 7:35.
But I promise - you're safe if you watch from the beginning to about 3:20. All you really see is the surface of the water (again, sewage, rather) which is sort of unremarkable in a weird way in that it consists of tightly-packed flotsam and jetsam of plastic bottles and assorted litter. Everything where he's under the water is just black screen with subtitles - no fatbergs in sight.
It's a really, really great short documentary.
Thanks Johnny!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:40 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
I see that tag you monster.
If we were mutual contacts you could add a disclaimer tag.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:51 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
If we were mutual contacts you could add a disclaimer tag.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:51 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Johnny you magnificent bastard you're gonna regret telling me how to do that XD
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:56 PM on February 27, 2019
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:56 PM on February 27, 2019
Ah. Head trauma. That explains the scatological obsession.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:07 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:07 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
I see articles about the Mexico City sewer divers every so often;
There's a reason for it. Mexico City was built up from Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. Tenochtitlan was itself built out from a small island in the middle of a system of lakes which covered the Valley of Mexico. The Spanish, in fact, called it the "Venice of the New World," despite it being both larger and more important than it's Mediterranean contemporary.
After the war with the Spanish, indigenous systems of hydraulic control ended up undermined through a combination of changes in land use (e.g., pastures), depopulation, and basic ethnocentric bias. As a result, Mexico City ( San Juan de Tenochtitlan at that time), found itself on the receiving end of severe floods in the early 17th century.
As a result, Spanish authorities initially opted to build a tunnel to drain some water from the lakes. For a number of reasons to proved ineffective. A Dutch engineer suggested building upon native hydraulic system to create a controlled lagoon in proper Netherlander style.
This idea failed, and instead the drainage tunnel was expanded and converted into a open canal. Drainage of the lakes works proceed up until the mid-20th century, when the damage done to the aquatic environment by the then rapidly growing megapolis was noted and conservation measures put in place.
The end result of early colonial Spanish policy, however, was that Mexico City's ground level supply of water was drained, followed by the underlying aquifer, leading to massive subsidence coincident with a complex sewage system built atop a megacity rising out of a drained lake bed.
posted by Panjandrum at 8:05 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
There's a reason for it. Mexico City was built up from Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. Tenochtitlan was itself built out from a small island in the middle of a system of lakes which covered the Valley of Mexico. The Spanish, in fact, called it the "Venice of the New World," despite it being both larger and more important than it's Mediterranean contemporary.
After the war with the Spanish, indigenous systems of hydraulic control ended up undermined through a combination of changes in land use (e.g., pastures), depopulation, and basic ethnocentric bias. As a result, Mexico City ( San Juan de Tenochtitlan at that time), found itself on the receiving end of severe floods in the early 17th century.
As a result, Spanish authorities initially opted to build a tunnel to drain some water from the lakes. For a number of reasons to proved ineffective. A Dutch engineer suggested building upon native hydraulic system to create a controlled lagoon in proper Netherlander style.
This idea failed, and instead the drainage tunnel was expanded and converted into a open canal. Drainage of the lakes works proceed up until the mid-20th century, when the damage done to the aquatic environment by the then rapidly growing megapolis was noted and conservation measures put in place.
The end result of early colonial Spanish policy, however, was that Mexico City's ground level supply of water was drained, followed by the underlying aquifer, leading to massive subsidence coincident with a complex sewage system built atop a megacity rising out of a drained lake bed.
posted by Panjandrum at 8:05 AM on February 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Perhaps our host should have a sock puppet called Johnny Foulwater....
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:02 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:02 AM on February 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
This video is something to keep in mind the next time I go shopping for a used drysuit.
posted by fremen at 4:06 PM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by fremen at 4:06 PM on February 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
I thought you lot employed stillsuits.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:34 PM on February 28, 2019
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:34 PM on February 28, 2019
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posted by Dip Flash at 6:45 PM on February 27, 2019 [1 favorite]