Fast Water, Slow Drains and Hitler's Revenge

Every time the sky opens up like it has these past few days, I flashback like a segment in LOST to my freshman year in college when I owned a 1990, 2-door Volkswagon Jetta (I know, total chick car).

Although it was a great alternative to walking to school, this car was a complete nightmare for this starving student. Not only did the car require some kind of major maintenance every other month keeping me in an eternal poor house, but this vehicle, appropriately nicknamed "Hitler's Revenge" by a good friend, leaked water like a sieve from Hell.

The worst part about the leaking water wasn't the fact that it destroyed a $160 Art History book, or my mid-term art project, no, it was the smell that matured from the floor just behind the driver's seat. I'd often warn people that asked me for a ride that my car had a very distinct aroma–equating it to a hot burlap sack of wet spoiled potatoes. Forget the air-fresheners, it only intensified my car's unique fragrance.

It's safe to say that because of "Hitler's Revenge", I will probably never, ever buy another Volkswagon for as long as I live.

Flash forward some 10+ years and I'm answering a phone call from a neighbor living at the lofts saying that the deluge has caused the gutter water to rise over the sidewalk and slowly creep through her front door.

Naturally, my first instinct is to call Public Works to see if they know of any sewer/gutter blockages. If not, then what are the public's options to help protect their property.

From a call I placed in to Public Works on Tuesday I learned two things: “All drains and gutters in Santa Ana drain slowly” (clogged with the dreams of so many who have tried to make Santa Ana a better place, perhaps?) and the City of Santa Ana offers up to 10 free sandbags to residents, 24 hours a day at a self-service station down at 215 South Center Street (92703).


View Larger Map

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I've attached a photo below that my good neighbor-friend took as he drove around the complex. All I can say is that I’ve lived here for roughly three and half years and I’ve never seen the water run this high, so this is definitely out of the norm.

Though this might seem like another dire situation where residents of Santa Ana are once again “assed-out” by the City, the flooding at this intersection will most likely need to be addressed when the City moves forward with their Go-Local Street Car plan…hopefully.

Street Lake at 6th and Mortimer

Back in March of last year, a few friends and I began walking to The Gypsy Den for an early morning cup of coffee. On the way there, we stopped at the corner of 6th and Mortimer and took note of a street lake taking residence in this high-density residential neighborhood.

The next day we took the same route and lo and behold, the stagnant water was still there. "I think I found my new pet project", I said to my fellow caffeine whores.

Later that day, I headed back to take some pictures to send to Santa Ana Public Works when I encountered a gentleman by the name of Juan waiting for a bus just a few steps away from the street lake. Juan told me that he's lived in the neighborhood for over eight years and has yet to see a dry gutter.

Just then, he motioned me to turn around as a Mamacita was carefully pushing a stroller through the puddle, trying not to make too much of a splash. Juan was shaking his head in a sad, frustrated manner.

I thanked Juan for his time and told him that I'd be making some phone calls to get problem fixed.

"Thank you, and I wish you luck", Juan replied, as if he somehow knew that over the next few months, I'd be leaving several unreturned phone messages left on answering machines and operators down at Public Works.

Not until late in August did I finally have the wherewithal when placing a follow-up call to ask to speak directly with Jim Ross, the Executive Director down at Public Works.

At first, the operator seemed hesitant to connect me to him, but after briefly talking it up as if we had old business, the call was patched through.

When Jim Ross answered the call, I was immediately delighted with his "can do" attitude. It was a very refreshing experience and he assured me that he would have someone out the next day to survey the location.

Sure enough, Jim called me back the very next day and assured me that he'd have the pooling problem fixed by the end of the year.

October came and went, and November was flying by with no sign of progress. I was beginning to feel stood up. Then, one night as I was walking back from Monday Night Football down at Tommy Pastrami's, I noticed some orange cones that read "SAPW" set up around the lake. Later on that week, I headed down to the lake and snapped these photos below:


As the year came to a close, so did another one of my pet projects. Jim Ross down at Public Works did an amazing job and now this intersection is no longer a problem for those that walk, ride, or drive through this intersection.

And for once, I was actually glad to see my tax dollars being thrown down the gutter.


James G. Ross, Executive Director
20 Civic Center Plaza, M-21
Santa Ana, CA 92702
click for webpage

Emergency Repairs
714-647-3380

General Maintenance and Repairs
714-647-3380

Project Bid Information
714-647-5680

Public Works Information
714-647-5690

Muerte en el Agua

I inherited my father's curly hair and my mother's thumb–green thumb that is. She could pretty much resuscitate any dying plant or drop any random seed in a pot of soil and within a few weeks, we'd be looking for a permanent place of residence for the fresh sprout in the backyard.

Before moving to the Santiago Street Lofts, I had a small collection of potted plants. Some of them were store bought and others were grown from seeds that I bought at Home Depot. All of which were flourishing with basic maintenance and water straight from the tap.

Unfortunately, the move to Santa Ana ended up costing me the lives of many of my dear and longtime (plant) friends. I'm not sure whether it's the hardness of the water, the chlorine, or whatever mysterious funk seen in this video, but the water in Santa Ana has been deadly to my plants.

The only plants to have survived were my water "lucky" bamboos (insert pun).

After reading up at various sites and consulting with Poison Ivy herself (my Mom), the best option for growing healthy houseplants in Santa Ana would be to switch to distilled water. Turns out that hard water contains minerals that can be very harsh on houseplants.

Another option if you don't want to go distilled is to fill your watering container and let it sit for a minimum of 36 hours. By this time, the chlorine should have dissipated and be a little safer for your babies.

If you go the way of a water softener, remember that this water contains heavy concentrations of salts. The salts will hinder the growth of your plants, or even worse, pull a 187 on them.

Finally, when watering your plants, make sure the water is at room temperature. Very hot or very cold water can shock the roots and damage, or even kill your green friends.

Here is a great site about watering houseplants.

Cleaning Up After Your Water

I'm sure that most of you have noticed by now that the water hardness in Santa Ana sucks. According to The 2006 Santa Ana Water Quality Report, the total hardness (ppm) measured at 408.36 out of 469. The total hardness (grains per gallon) measured at 23.9 out of 27.4. Don't believe me? Check out the tip of your water spigot. Bet ya it's crusty!

So what should you use to get your sinks looking shiny and new again? Well, I'm going to pass on to you what has worked great for me, requiring little or no "elbow grease", giving me more time to do things that I love–like blogging!

After trying multiple products, these guys do the job for me.

• CLR Spray can be purchased at Target for about $3.00.
• Bar Keepers Friend can be found at Longs Drugs or Home Depot for about $3.50.
• Stainless Steel Polish can be found at Cost Plus for about $3.00
• The furniture polish was bought at Longs Drugs for about $1.50, but it's just a generic version of Pledge.

First Step: Start off with spraying the sink basin, on and around the faucet; including the faucet handles and spigot with the CLR. Now in a spray bottle form, CLR has never been easier to use.

With a non-abrasive sponge, wipe down the area clean of the CLR.

Second Step: Sprinkle a small amount of Bar Keepers Friend on a wet sponge, make a fist with the sponge, resulting in a smooth mashed paste. BKF is fantastic in that it wont scratch your shiny sinks and works well on other stainless appliances.

Rinse the sink clean and dry using a small terry cloth.

(You can stop here if you choose, but completing the next step will help your cleaning effort last a little longer than two days–like three.)

Third (Optional) Step: Lightly spray the (dry) sink basin with the Stainless Steel Polish (or furniture polish), then wipe clean with a paper towel or the small terry cloth used in step two. The polish creates a waxy coating that protects your basin from buildup, buying you a few more days until another cleaning is needed.

Now this method might sound like it takes a long time (or a little obsessive), but I was able to get my sink from nasty to classy in about 3 minutes (see below).

Another solution is to get a water softener; something I've been pondering ever since I realized I needed a method for cleaning the sinks. From what I hear, one or two of our residents have installed a softener–I'm very curious to see how that has worked out for them.

Here's a great article about iron in water.
The Santa Ana Public Works page on the City website.