Have you ever been inside a sewer?
And if you have, just what the hell were you doing down there, you little bugger?
But no seriously, I’m wondering. I was looking up pictures of the inside of sewers online. for some reason It seems it would be so cool to go exploring in them, if there weren’t turds and all sorts of nasty stuff running through em. Now of course there’s people who work down there, to make repairs and all, and well I don’t know much about sewer workers…I like to think they have special suits to protect them, and have access to whatever adequate protection and stuff they need so they don’t get all sick and infected. I mean it must be so gross down there. A lot of the pics show platforms and walkways, plus some even have lights, although I am guessing the lighted sections are major important parts where much of the work and regulations are done? Probably doesn’t have lights everywhere in there.
But do you have any sewer stories? Ever been in one? Know anyone who has? Sewers are dangerous in more ways than one obviously.
I’ve heard depressing stories about kids getting lost by entering sewer openings down by river banks and all. Most of the ones I ever saw as a kid had gratings over them so you couldn’t get inside. Hopefully nobody here has any depressing stories like that, but feel free to share, if there are, and if you want. Any sewer experiences at all to relate? Would you go check one out if it was safe? What about abandoned sewers that are no longer used? Is that even possible, or do they just close off certain sections? Also how come they make them round? Is it easier to build them this way, or does this have to do with smoother running water/waste? Or is that only older sewers that are built round?
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Well, I’ve been inside a large drainage pipe in San Clemente, CA. It wasn’t technically a sewer as it wasn’t carrying waste (it only had a small trickle of water running through it when I went in there), but my friends and I walked through it (it was big enough so you could stand, but you had to bend down slightly). Eventually, we got far enough into it that the light from the entrance was completely gone so that it was absolute pitch black inside (that was very odd) and my friends, being who they are, sparked up a J in the center of the tunnel. I was relieved to see the light at the other end, though… :P
Haha, cool. Was it a little scary? But yeah, go figure; smoking dope in the sewer lol.
It was a little scary, yeah. I’m somewhat claustrophobic, so having the ceiling be low kind of freaked me out and when it truly became devoid of any light, that was freaky. My friend who was from the town was leading us and had been in it before so he knew how long it was; I’m sure I would not have gone if we had all been exploring it for the first time.
This is a fantastic question! I’m a little tempted to go in one now.
My friends and I used to crawl through drainage pipes while playing “Army”. I grew up in a flat, suburban area not too far above sea level. Spaced within neighborhoods were large, rainwater catch basins we called sumps. All the drainage pipes in the streets would lead to the sumps. They had high fences around them with barbed wire. We were small enough that we could squeeze between the gates and get inside without having to climb the fence.
On TV at the times were 2 Army shows called “The Gallant Men” and “Combat”. We’d watch those and then acted out in the sump. We had powerful fireworks (pre 1967-ban cherry bombs and M-80s) that we would throw into the pipes like hand grenades. After the smoke would clear we would start crawling. Of course we had no flashlights because the batteries wold be useless in 2 minutes so we would be in the dark. I remember feeling another pipe drain onto my shoulder as I crawled through a main pipe. I went into the smaller pipe but decided it was to small and backed out. The bigger pipes were scary. enough. When cars would drive over the drainage grate they would make a huge “Whump” sound that reverberated through the pipes.
Good memories. Thanks for asking!
Yes, when I was a teen. I lived in a small city for a bit. My drug gang and I used to go into a few of them to get high. They were big round metal ones (I was short enough I could stand up fine in them). Also, some of my friends and I would hang out in them after school – listening to the overhead cars and making funky sounds in them. The semi trucks going above us were always scary sounding/feeling though. One friend of mine used to light firecrackers in them (those red popping ones). Oh, and there was never faeces in the ones we frequented – just smelly water sometimes. Usually they were dry or had small trickles of water going through. I think they are called storm relief sewer tunnels or something like that.
My guess, for sewer pipes being round, is that they can probably withstand the weight around them better than a sided one could. Plus, I would assume you get better drainage with nothing sticking to corners. Actually, I think really… really… old sewers tended to be square/sided (and often had arched ceilings). Think of all the gunk that would get stuck in those crevices! We never had any like these and I’d never go in one… creepy.
Yeah, my apartment is one!!!!!!
No, but…when I was a kid, I dug up our septic tank thinking I had found buried treasure. lol
I started digging and when I got about 2 feet down I came across a solid piece of wood. I was convinced it was a treasure trove. My parents were not happy at all. haha
I, obviously, did not uncover the whole thing but, I was a tenacious little explorer.
@Coloma BWAHAHAA my sister and I did the same thing in our back yard when we were kids.
No, but i’d love to drive a mini through one like in The Italian Job, it’s on my “to do” list.
Nope and I don’t think I’d ever want to.
@LuckyGuy How come the batteries would be useless? Kick ass stories though, sounds fun haha. :)
@Plucky Yeah I saw photos of real old ones with archway type walls. Man those are weird. Makes sense about the round shape though. Probably takes way longer for any of that to crumble under all that pressure. Although I suppose when sewers were all church style, there weren’t cars around. (that is, if cars significantly caused sewer damage)
Also I’d go in that one from your picture, if it wasn’t filled with all that nasty water.
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