Philly shuts down dumpster pools: 'We are not screwing around'

[Liberal_in_LA]

The city of Philadelphia is asking people to refrain from swimming in dumpsters after a rented trash bin was turned into a makeshift swimming pool over the weekend.
Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY Network

The city of Philadelphia is asking people to refrain from swimming in dumpsters after a block party rented trash bin and turned it into a makeshift swimming pool over the weekend.

Online news site Billy Penn reported that a genius group of people rented a dumpster, filled it with water from a fire hydrant, and created their own pool.

Unfortunately, the city was not amused.
The city “will not issue permits for block party dumpster pools,” Karen Guss, communications director for the Department of Licenses and Inspections, said in a statement, according to Billy Penn.

"We are not screwing around, Philly," Guss added.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/08/05/philly-shuts-down-dumpster-pools-we-arere-not-screwing-around/88285110/

[asiliveandbreathe]

1. Genius I tell ya' genius....OMG

[snooper2]

6. not really genius, rednecks have been doing this with truck beds for decades

[matt819]

11. I'm not a redneck

So I never saw this before. The dumpster thing is actually pretty funny, though probably seriously unsafe.

[malaise]

17. I'm betting the redneck's trucks are way less of a public health

threat than dumpsters.

[KG]

2. how can we call this a 'free country' with this kind of oppresion...

[Igel]

4. It's privatizing a public good while socializing a private risk.

It does so in an innovative, emotionally appealing way. But that's what it is.

You want a public pool, you get a permitted public pool. That way the adults in the room know that there's a pool and they're liable for it.

If it's a private pool, you put it on private property. And don't use fire hydrants to fill it.

"Everything belongs to the kolkhoz, everything belongs to me" mocked a Soviet-era song, but accurately reflected a lot of attitudes.

[Igel]

3. And ...

1. They're taking water. This isn't a good thing.

2. They're occupying and using public property for their activities. That should have a permit. "Pool parking" isn't a usual activity for city streets.

3. If anything happens while the rented dumpster is on public property and the city has done nothing to provide public safety, the city's open to legal liability.

One parents or acquaintance takes a small child and lets him drown in there, and it's suddenly a Very Bad Thing and people will be asking why the city allowed such a dangerous, risky thing to happen on public property. If a kid balances on the edge of the dumpster and falls in front of a moving vehicle, ditto. Because you know that the organizer is going to immediately duck responsibility to the greatest extent possible, and the victim or relatives of the victim won't bother suing the guy who created the public nuisance but the legal entity able to pay out the biggest amount. "Justice for the dead" often involves a lot of blood money for the living.

4. If the street isn't level and something gets that water moving downhill in the dumpster, well, let's just say it's unclear who's culpable. The water probably weighs around 7 1/2 tons, about 2 1/2 times the weight of a Ford F-250 (I'm guessing as to the dimensions of the dumpster, if it's bigger than 10 x 8 x 3.5' then the weight's going to be more, perhaps a lot more), Plus the weight of the empty dumpster.

[snooper2]

7. and there are no filters for the urine

[Hassin Bin Sober]

18. Well the public street is already occupied for their stupid "block party"

Those block parties annoy me. They block off a street so 5 or 6 people can sit at their folding table in the middle of the street.

[True Dough]

5. In west Philadelphia I was born and raised...

In the dumpster pool was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
And all shootin some b-ball outside of the school...

[Lochloosa]

8. A poet and didn't know it...

[True Dough]

10. Full credit to Will Smith/Quincy Jones III

[BumRushDaShow]

9. OMG

Didn't realize that was a thing! The rest of the folks not near a city pool just used the fire hydrants.

[backscatter712]

12. Wow, that's fucking gross...

Let me guess - before being turned into an improvised pool, the dumpster was last used for biomedical waste...

Happy swimming!

[Warpy]

14. That's how my brain works, too

Cool! But EEWWWWW!

[Liberal_in_LA]

19. they've lined it with tarps

[backscatter712]

22. Of course, tarps never get holes, and never get leaks.

I should probably point out that dumpsters are also not equipped with water filters like a pool or jacuzzi, and the folks filling it up probably didn't think to add chlorine.

Yep. Extra healthy.

[geek tragedy]

13. Check out dudebro in lower right corner nt

[Warren DeMontague]

21. Touch My Monkey. LOVE HIM

[Renew Deal]

15. They will have to pry the dumpster pool from my cold dead hands

[Coventina]

16. This is the most Philadelphia story EVER!!!

[Warren DeMontague]

20. The East Coast is so fucking uptight.

I don't know how anyone can stand it.