Tag Archives: pollution

Beijing’s “Airpocalypse”

By Kim Smiley

Beijing’s air pollution was at levels considered hazardous to human health for nearly a week during mid-January 2013.  During this event, colorfully dubbed the “airpocalypse”, pollution levels peaked at 755 as measured by the Air Quality Index (AQI).  This value is considered “Beyond Index” because it is well above the 500 which is considered the maximum AQI value.  Any AQI value over 300 is considered hazardous.

This issue can be analyzed by building a Cause Map, an intuitive format for performing a visual root cause analysis.  The first step in building a Cause Map is to fill in an outline with the basic background information.  The impacts to the organizational goals are also listed in the Outline.  In this example, the safety goal is impacted because people are reporting respiratory issues and there is a possibility of long term health problems because millions were exposed to hazardous air pollution.  The customer service goal has also been impacted because of the negatively publicity that the air pollution issues have generated.  The impacts to the goals are used to build the Cause Map by asking “why” questions.

Why were millions exposed to hazardous air pollution?  This happened because there was air pollution produced in and around Beijing and the pollution was trapped in the city.  A number of sources contributed to the air pollution.  There are many coal burning factories in the area and the amount of coal burnt as a heat source has increased recently because of unusually cold weather.  The number of cars in the city is also increasing at an amazing rate, with thousands more added to the city traffic daily.   There is also a lot of construction in the city needed to meet the demands of such a large population. The pollution was trapped in the city because of the city’s geography and the weather.  Beijing sits on a plain and is flanked by hills.  If the wind doesn’t blow in the right direction to push the  pollution out to sea, it will be trapped by the hills and blanket the city, which is what happened in this case.

The final step in the Cause Mapping process is to develop and implement  solutions to prevent the same thing from recurring.  The Chinese government did take several steps to try to mitigate the  immediate problem with the air pollution by limiting the use of cars and temporarily shutting down some factories.  The pollution finally cleared up as the wind began to blow, but continued efforts will be needed to prevent similar issues in the future.

To view an outline and high level Cause Map of this issue, click on “Download PDF” above.

Water Pollution from Sewer

By ThinkReliability Staff

Thanks in part to the Clean Water Act, passed in 1972 and revised in 2000, most residents of the United States have continual access to clean, safe water.  However, extenuating circumstances may result in pathogens remaining in drinking water – or contaminating swimming water – resulting in potential illnesses.  In fact, researchers estimate that up to 20 million people per year become ill due to ingesting pathogens in water.  In addition to the environmental impact of untreated sewage reaching waterways, up to 400,000 basements and thousands of roads have been flooded with untreated sewage.

These floods generally occur when the sewer systems are overwhelmed or clogged.  A clogged sewage system can result from buildup of leaves, or other debris, including that from illegal dumping.

An overwhelmed sewer system is generally the result of a high volume of water passing through the system.  As the population increases, the strain on the system increases as well.  Since most municipalities do not have the funds available to upgrade or replace their systems, an aging, inappropriately sized system is all that remains to provide needed water.  However, systems are generally able to keep up with demand, except during times of high rainfall.  Many sewer systems handle both waste and rainwater through the same system.  When a heavy rainfall occurs, the system is overwhelmed, resulting in overflow of sewage.  This overflow is often directed into the waterways.  Dumping untreated or partially treated sewage into waterways is illegal, but fines are hardly ever levied.  The Federal Government may be unwilling to levy fines against municipalities for illegal dumping, especially because Federal funding to maintain sewer systems has decreased significantly.  With municipal budgets stretched already, dealing with aging sewer systems just isn’t happening.

However, there are some things that municipalities can do.  Green spaces (as opposed to paved areas) absorb rainfall, decreasing the amount directed in to the sewer system.  By planning more green space, or better drainage, the amount of rainfall that actually enters the system can be reduced.  Additionally, municipalities could redirect rainfall to keep it out of the waste portion of the sewer system. The cost of doing this may make it infeasible; however, calls for Federal stimulus money for repairs to sewer systems may result in municipalities’ ability to finally upgrade their systems.