Sewage-Sniffing Dogs Locate Trouble Spots Along Milwaukee River

By Good News Network Sunday, May 13, 2012

Earth - General

Canines have a sense of smell 1,000 times better than humans. So, you might imagine how amazing a dog could be at finding unwanted sewage draining into urban storm sewers. Such discharges usually come from failing infrastructure or illegal connections in sewage systems and result in nasty point-source pollution being flushed into area rivers.

Now, Milwaukee Riverkeepers has partnered with Environmental Canine Services to sniff and test over 50 manholes around Milwaukee.

If the dogs "hit" on a spot, underground pipes are tested and water samples sent to the Great Lakes Water Institute for analysis.

The dynamic dog duo of Sable & Logan helped narrow down sewage hot spots and will aid the city in the future in determining areas of pollution concern along the many miles of waterfront citywide.

(Source: Milwaukee RiverKeepers Flickr page)