Dive Vlog Stardate 46382.6 - The Pipe

[Slamfire]

Ohhhhhh, you were sooooo close on the first one....

Indeed we were. We were not expecting it to be so deep, thus we did not plan nor were we prepared to go to 200 ft. As it is, I was already pushing it by doing a brief bounce to 187 ft. Alan and I discussed this during debriefing as one of the negative points in our execution. The goal might seem to be right there within your grasp, but you have to be able to give it up and turn around, else you might not be around to make a second try.

On that first dive at my deepest I couldn't see the end of the pipe. I recall seeing the beginning of the pipe diameter reductor. My buddy was ~10 ft behind and above me and at that point I decided it was not worth the risk of eating up into our reserves.

I am of the opinion that pushing it to 187ft detrimentally influenced the footage I gathered. You get into a different headspace when you push your plan. So even if I had gone 10 ft deeper, footage would probably have been crap. For instance, on that first video I failed to gather footage that showcased the geological surroundings of the pipe.

The second dive was planned for a depth of up to 250 ft, even though I suspected the end was going to be shallower. I used my bigger doubles, different mixes and one additional deco gas. This time I had the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your execution is well within the boundaries of your plan.

---------- Post added December 6th, 2013 at 07:47 AM ----------

Sooo... what's coming out of that pipe that requires it to go that deep?

I think the pipe is coming from this operation: EPCOR :: Britannia Mine, BC

An innovative water treatment facility is cleaning up one of North America’s largest sources of heavy metal pollution...

...The treatment facility uses slaked lime to precipitate the dissolved heavy metals out of the mine water. The heavy metals removed include:

• Copper
  
• Iron
  
• Zinc
  
• Aluminum
  
• Manganese
  
• Cadmium

The lime/ sludge mix that settles to the bottom of the stilling basin is dewatered and stored offsite.
After a final test of the pH and turbidity levels, the treated effluent flows down a 1700 m long outfall into Howe Sound
- See more at: http://corp.epcor.com/watersolution...ages/britannia-mine.aspx#sthash.yNxkweiq.dpuf [/QUOTE]

 

[shoredivr]

Detective work in combination with an ample second dive plan, excellent!

I've only read about minerals precipitating out of fresh water in salt water, really cool to see it happening on the video.

Those are some large pipes. Wonder how many reducers there are over the whole length?

 

[DaleC]

Good work Gabriel.
Can't wait for your next vlog installment: "The Tube".

 

[Slamfire]

Those are some large pipes. Wonder how many reducers there are over the whole length?

There are several sections of the pipe that are encased inside bigger concrete pipes, like it is seen in the beginning of the video. At depth (deeper than 30 ft) the concrete casings also have a heavy rope (1.5" thick?) tied to them probably used to facilitate handling during installation. The octopus den is in one of these concrete casings. You can see the rope in the Cabezon clip on the second video.

Other than that, I don't recall any changes in external diameter until you get close to end and see that reducer used to accommodate the final vent. When I saw that reducer from a distance in the dive of the first video, I incorrectly assumed there were going to be more reducers further down too.

Good work Gabriel.
Can't wait for your next vlog installment: "The Tube".

I was thinking that maybe I should do an interview with somebody from epcor. First of all to confirm that this is indeed the treated mine outflow pipe. There are other several questions that I am curious to learn more. The vents remind me of the one way flapper valves used in the old double hose regulators. Are these vents automatic one way valves used to prevent sea water back flow into the pipe? Why are the last two vents not working when the first three are? Are they clogged with sediment? Was this clogging planned? Do you plan to unclog them? if so how? Or is part of the 20 year plan to have the vents slowly clog up one by one? How do you monitor/measure underwater environmental recovery in Britannia beach? Why does the pipe need to go so deep? Etc.

 

[DaleC]

I like it. The best dives are the ones that give you something to think about afterwards. Maybe they don't know about the clogging and would appreciate a video peek.
Of course, my vote for why so deep is so that no one can see what's coming out

 

[Bob DBF]

I like it. The best dives are the ones that give you something to think about afterwards. Maybe they don't know about the clogging and would appreciate a video peek.
Of course, my vote for why so deep is so that no one can see what's coming out

Who knows, they might like a sample if you happen to be in the neighborhood again.


Bob

 

[Slamfire]

Hmmm... Maybe they could even make a donation to cover gas costs... not.