dhirschman – Hirschman Water & Environment, LLC

Phosphorus — No Funny Business

February 26, 2024
I posted Obsessed with Phosphorus several years ago. I had done a little research on the element, including the 61-mile long conveyor belt in Western Sahara that can be seen from space. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, we all know phosphorus as one of the big three pollutants included in the Bay’s pollution diet. Recently, I read Dan Egan’s book, The Devil’s Element – Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance, and realized there is a lot more to mysterious #15 (that’s periodic table talk) than I had known. In fact, “P” could just as easily stand for “paradox” as phosphorus.

Stormwater BMP Maintenance Plans — Notes from the Bush

30Januarydhirschman

We have always known that long-term maintenance was part of the picture for stormwater BMPs. However, for many years, that notion was an annoying rattle in the background as we’ve gone about the often more gratifying work to design and install BMPs. Now, maintenance is front-and-center with any project. Most practitioners would agree that lack of adequate maintenance is unacceptable, as the result is not good for the site, for water quality, or for the property owners and public. Poor long-term maintenance also represents a huge betrayal of the initial investments of money, time, creativity, and energy we put into planning, designing, and installing the practices.

Gratitude for the Trees

14Decemberdhirschman

Gratitude for Trees

There are no Truffula trees around here, but I am particularly thankful this season for the trees in my yard, neighborhood, parks, down along the river trail, and out in the forest. Over the past months, the value of trees keeps coming up in conferences, conversations, my Toastmasters club, and books and articles. You don’t have to be knocked in the head by a black walnut to realize how fortunate we are to be accompanied on life’s journey by trees.

The Alchemists of Waste

10Novemberdhirschman

The ancient alchemists attempted to transform base metals into gold and silver, endeavoring to enrich low-value materials. Today, there are modern-day alchemists out there working diligently and largely under the radar to transform many materials upon which our society places very little value: stuff otherwise headed to our landfills for disposal.

Dispatches from the Cryosphere

20Septemberdhirschman

Dispatches from the Cryosphere

For the majority of us in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (with the exception of New Yorkers and those from northeastern PA), we will likely not encounter moraines, fjords, drumlins, eskers, or kettles on our watershed ramblings. These are just a few of the landscapes left behind by the massive Laurentide Ice Sheet that dredged its way across Canada and the northern tier of the U,S, 100,000 to 11,000 years ago.

However, there are still places on this remarkable planet that are covered with ice – the Cryosphere.
The Cryosphere is the part of Earth that is frozen. Think ice sheets, glaciers, permafrost. The “cry” in Cryosphere is derived from the Greek krios, meaning cold, but I can’t help think of the double meaning here as these fragile systems melt away.