“I’m not sure why they named it Hyperion.”-Nancy Carr, Public Relations. I had made it a point to actually look up the word earlier that day for my own satisfaction.
Greek Mythology A Titan, the son of Gaea and Uranus and the father of Helios.
Here is a place you might not think to visit, but people do visit this place, so much in fact, that the plant has a full time tour guide and public relations department. (tours are given daily). Constructed in the late 1800’s and completely restructured in 1998, Hyperion pulls in 350 million gallons of sewage a day via 6500 miles of sewer line from the Los Angeles area. it is one of the largest plants of its kind in the United States. Even Hollywood came calling. Aside from housing the “Sewage of the Stars”, The plant has been in several movies and TV shows: Spider man I, Logan’s Run, The X files, Starship Enterprise, even the latest Energizer Bunny commercial to name a few.
My tour guide Nancy was really sweet and extremely knowledgeable. After exchanging pleasantries, she alerted me to where the bathroom was located and went on to mention that using the facilities here at the plant was considered a “Direct Deposit”. It was nice to know she had a sense of humor! We departed the office and headed for her white company van. First stop was the Headworks Building where large “Screens” remove the trash from the sewage in a “rake-like” motion. It is here where the world throws anything and everything away. Everything from 17 foot telephone poles to human remains have been flushed down the drains here. The weirdest find so far? A fully grown male horse and a complete set of kitchen cabinets. Oh and there are the body parts too..Yes, they have actually found them here. Nancy informed me that, proper plant protocol is to immediately alert the police.
Next stop was digestion. Even bacteria get hungry, and this place is like an all you can eat buffet. The plant’s scientists actually grow bacteria that feed on the solid wastes. Bon Apetite? After this stage, the sewage is pumped into a clarifying tank where seagulls frolic about(see picture). Here it sits for a few hours before being pumped 5 miles out into the bay. Oh and they even scrub the air of all the pooh smelling particulates, appropriately called “Foul Air” with these giant air filtering systems seen here.(see picture) After a few hours I had seen enough. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to photograph underground for security reasons, but tours are given daily and you can see the bottom of the digestors which is really cool. Logan’s run was filmed underground for the escape scenes. For tours and information just call the plant and ask for Nancy Carr. All in all Hyperion was a very interesting place.
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