Septic Tank blamed on massive explosion

[augie47]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/septic-tank-centre-huge-china-blast-023051985.html

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I remember when we first started to wire septic pumps we were told to install the receptacle inside the septic tank where all the motors and alarms were pluged in. Yikes, they now require all those units to be redone. I just got a call from my neighbor who still has that setup and the receptacle has gone bad-- 25 years or more it was like that

 

[mivey]

Looks like a lot of damage for just a normal septic tank. I have no frame of reference so how is that possible unless there were additional factors?

 

[Cow]

Looks like a lot of damage for just a normal septic tank. I have no frame of reference so how is that possible unless there were additional factors?

How do we know it was a normal septic tank?

It's China, how do we know it's not a 20,000 gallon tank put in to service several of the buildings in the area?

 

[gadfly56]

How do we know it was a normal septic tank?

It's China, how do we know it's not a 20,000 gallon tank put in to service several of the buildings in the area?

Fair point.

 

[K8MHZ]

I am a bit skeptical. To be explosive, both methane and H2S need oxygen. I wonder if there was something other than human waste in the tank.

 

[gadfly56]

I am a bit skeptical. To be explosive, both methane and H2S need oxygen. I wonder if there was something other than human waste in the tank.

"Hey, what should we do with all this leftover liquid oxygen?"

"Eh, just pour it down the drain."

 

[ptonsparky]

You still need a source of ignition.

“I smell something. You have a light?” Says one missing person to the other.

 

[K8MHZ]

You still need a source of ignition.

“I smell something. You have a light?” Says one missing person to the other.

If there were enough solids in the tank, spontaneous combustion, although not likely, is possible.

 

[rbalex]

You still need a source of ignition.

“I smell something. You have a light?” Says one missing person to the other.

My Bonnie lay over a gas tank,
The height of its contents to see,
She lit a small match to assist her,
O' bring back my Bonnie to me.

 

[ramsy]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/septic-tank-centre-huge-china-blast-023051985.html

"..Residents said some people from outside Ningbo had been squatting there,.."

A cherry bomb with underwater fuse, could flush nicely down the toilet.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Fair point.

Let us also consider that the Chinese diet is much higher
in veggies. Methane, dudes. Methane.

 

[gadfly56]

My Bonnie lay over a gas tank,
The height of its contents to see,
She lit a small match to assist her,
O' bring back my Bonnie to me.

Egad, that sounds like something out of Shrieks at Midnight

 

[mivey]

A cherry bomb with underwater fuse, could flush nicely down the toilet.

Squatters? Really?

 

[Dzboyce]

A cherry bomb with underwater fuse, could flush nicely down the toilet.

My senior year in high school (1973), two of my friends did just this before school started in the boys bathroom. Blew the toilet and both urinals off the wall. Frank and Billy walked out of the restroom and just walked straight to the principals office. I think they got suspended for a week. Could you imagine what would happen now days?

 

[ceb58]

At one time you could buy a kit to connect to your septic tank to have a gas light in the yard. Kind of like an eternal flame.

 

[Little Bill]

I didn't mean to laugh (much) but when I read what one of the interviewed persons said I had to.
He said "it blew my mother off her stool". I laughed wondering what "stool" meant in that context!

 

[drktmplr12]

My senior year in high school (1973), two of my friends did just this before school started in the boys bathroom. Blew the toilet and both urinals off the wall. Frank and Billy walked out of the restroom and just walked straight to the principals office. I think they got suspended for a week. Could you imagine what would happen now days?

gitmo obviously.

 

[gadfly56]

My senior year in high school (1973), two of my friends did just this before school started in the boys bathroom. Blew the toilet and both urinals off the wall. Frank and Billy walked out of the restroom and just walked straight to the principals office. I think they got suspended for a week. Could you imagine what would happen now days?

My dad was vague on the details, but apparently he and a couple of friends were responsible for blowing up the chem lab in high school (c. 1945). They mounted some sort of entertainment in order to pay for the costs. Too late to ask for additional information now.