This color educational film “Somebody around here is doin’ somethin’ good” is about the Richardson, Texas waste water treatment plant that was built in 1953. No copyright but this is circa the early 1970s. It was directed by Ginny Durrin and filmed by her husband Kip Durrin.
The City of Richardson, Texas. A car drives, a yard near a house, people in a public swimming pool, a police man, a woman shopping, a boy on a bike, everyday people on the move, a little girl on a swing. Young boys head fishing. A man drives a lawnmower. Title: Somebody Around Here Is Doing Something Good – A demonstration of a new technology for phosphorus removal (:07-1:34). A man waters his flowers. Richardson, TX. A sign that shows: leaving Dallas city limit. Children walk on a wall. Children in a public swimming pool. Model Homes sign near an open field. City Hall, shopping center, child on a swing, golf course, boys fishing off a bridge. In 1953 a waste water treatment plant was built. Locals discuss how things are. Water pump outside the plant. A man scrubs the plant. The wastewater treatment plant is a conventional biological trickling filter system. Present capacity is 1.6 million gallons a day. Water enters the plant, a screen catches large debris. After screening the water is pumped into a splitter box where the flow is divided equally into three clarigesters. Clarigesters are a combination of two units: a clarifier on top and a digester. A man climbs a ladder on the side of one of the clarigesters as the process is explained. Liquid from the clarifier is put into two trickling filters. The filter dumps the waste water slowly onto some sludge rock. The filter turns. A small scale model shows all the pieces. Chlorine is added to destroy harmful bacteria. Water flows out (1:35-6:23). A large body of water. Dr. Dave G. Stephan, an official, talks about how the EPA took an interest in the treatment plant. He mentions how in 1969 the EPA offered a grant to Richardson, TX so the plant could upgrade its performance in a short time and at a minimal cost to remove both BOD (Biochemical oxygen demand) and additional solids (and phosphorus). A man pours liquid alum, which is used as a flocculant in water purification. The camera zooms into the model of the plant. Exterior of the plant. Chemist at work. Water bubbles in a beaker. People check the water outside of the plant. Other locals talk about how this plant is doing the community good (6:24-9:52). Water in one of the clarigesters. One of the men talks in front of a fishtank using the water. Other locals talk about what good the plant is bringing. Flowers outside near the clarigesters. A man trims the flowers and the trees (9:53-12:13) Water flows from the plant to be used for irrigation purposes. A man golfs. A cemetery. A lake flows as a family is nearby. Some men talk about the plant and its results. Flowers bloom, a man scoops water out. The water near the clarigester. A man holds a rake. Aerial shot of one of the trickling filters (12:14-13:39). End credits over different shots of the plant (13:40-14:11).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
