There is a lake filled with poop in Afghanistan—and it is going to stay that way for the near future. At , the wastewater treatment plant is designed to handle waste from 25,000 people—but the airfield is currently home to around 30,000. The plant is also currently unable to process cooking oil and grease. So, the excess “waste material,” along with the oil and grease, ends up in a nearby cesspit. The smell gets whipped around the base by the desert wind and, yeah, ugh.
Plans were in place for the lake to be drained by the end of this year, but that won’t be happening. “Although the description of its smell can never be over-exaggerated,” said Sergeant First Class Erick Studenicka, “reports of malodorous Poo Pond’s demise were premature.” Instead, they’re looking toward the middle of next year as a drainage deadline. “If the number of residents on Kandahar airfield drops early next year and the mechanical grease separator is installed,” Studenicka said, “it’s likely the residents on Kandahar airfield in spring will witness the end of an era—the long-awaited closure of the poo pond around mid-2013.”
Via