During my tour of LA's sewers, I was consistently amazed by how little I knew about what went on in the drains and pipes beneath my feet. I asked Kent Carlson, the city's sewer and stormwater field operations manager, to stop by and shoot the shit.
After working as a machinist in the Navy, Carlson joined the City of Los Angeles 26 years ago and has been responsible for many of the technological advances that have brought our sewer system into the 21st century and beyond. This includes employing an army of camera-equipped drain bots who can scour and survey the underground network for blockages to creating a new GPS-enabled system to map and access the city's manholes.
Carlson will be with us today at 4:00 p.m. EST to take your questions about everything that happens after you flush the toilet. What happens to our wastewater management in a drought? How does the city handle large-scale spills? What's the gnarliest thing he's seen in LA's sewers?
Ask him anything in the comments below—he's seen it all, and he's working hard behind the scenes to make sure you don't have to see (or smell) it, too. Joining him in the comments is Robert Potter, another sewer operations manager for the City of LA.