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Citizen complaint of the day: Hellmouth opening off UMass Boston?
By adamg on Sat, 08/26/2023 - 9:01pm
A concerned citizen filed a 311 report about mystery bubbling in the water just off the rocks along the UMass Boston campus.
Something leaking/bubbling in the harbor off the coast by UMass. Spot is directly southeast of University Hall, visible from the harborwalk.
A roving UHub correspondent reports spotting the bubbling on Thursday - and took some video:
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
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Comments
I’ve seen this before
Maybe not to this extent. When I was at BC High we’d run around the library and see the water bubble. Always assumed it was storm water outflow.
This is old news
Adam reported on this maybe last year, or perhaps in 2019. I usually run over that way once or twice a year, and he posted something on it back then. I can't track it down, but swirly and I had a discussion about that it was.
So what is it?
So what is it?
Case noted.
Case noted.
Good one, noted.
Lol
UMB Outfall
When I went to umass, I remember learning that the campus uses water from the harbor to cool the mechanical systems, and this pipe is the discharge for that. It’s basically hot water after having passed through a heat exchanger. Here’s the link to the MEPA permit:
https://www3.epa.gov/region1/npdes/permits/2013/finalma0040304permit.pdf
Bubbling water at UMass Boston
I was a student at UMass Boston in the late '90s.
I would carry a water bottle with me and fill it up at the water fountain several times throughout the day. I remember on at least one occasion having to throw the whole thing out after filling it up because the water was aggressively fizzing and bubbling as if it were very carbonating. Not what you expect from a campus water fountain.
Unrelated, I assume, from this story of bubbling water at UMass.
Great school, but it had a few issues.
It's part of the HVAC system for the school
Cold(er) ocean water is piped in to lower temperatures (=save energy) in the campus-wide system; warm(er) water is piped out, hence the bubbling (warmer water rising to the surface). This is also why you don't see this in the winter. Now, everyone can calm down, unless you want to get amped up about "thermal pollution"-- a real thing, but really, come on, aren't there other things to worry about, you know, for the children?-- in the immediate vicinity of the outflow pipe.