The first rule of plumbing has been a universal truth in my world for a long time. With apologies to those who might find this painfully obvious, let me politely phrase it: effluent flows downhill.

Last month, I wrote an opinion piece about the finite nature of Amador County's water supply and its influence on development decisions. As a surprising result, I got a call from Don Emig, Big Sir of Pioneer Branch #15 of Sons In Retirement, inviting me to appear as a guest speaker at their Mace Meadow lunch meeting last week. Not having given a speech in about 40 years, I nervously cast about for some help, which came in the person of Gene Mancebo. Gene is the manager of engineering and planning at the Amador Water Agency. It's a long drive from the water agency to Buckhorn, so we had plenty of time to talk about matters of interest to both of us. Perverted as it might sound to some, though perfectly logical if you think about it, we got to talking about - effluent.

Some months ago, Gene and his colleagues at the water agency displayed their visual rendition of Amador County's possible future, in the form of the "purple pipe plan." The plan is to tie together a network of pipes that would carry recycled water from a sophisticated wastewater treatment plant to areas and industries that could put the water to beneficial use - a noble purpose, indeed.

The map for the purple pipe shows the existing wastewater treatment plants at Sutter Creek and Jackson, with their elevations listed as 1,200 feet. Both plants were set in place long ago by decision-makers with a clear understanding of the first rule of plumbing. When the plants were sited, it is highly likely that no one questioned the choices. It wasn't until considerably later in human evolution that pumps, known as lift stations, were invented to circumvent rule No. 1.

What's not shown on the agency map is the location of a major component of the water agency's original plan, a regional wastewater tertiary treatment plant that can cleanse effluent to a level that allows its unlimited reuse. Plans for such a plant have been set aside for the moment, for economic and political reasons, but, during discussion phases, tentative locations in Martell and along Highway 88 were named.

Amador County's central shopping area at Martell, the northwest corner of Jackson and the older shopping strip, from Swingle's down to Wal-Mart, produce effluent that is presently pumped uphill to a point on Sutter Hill. From there, the first rule takes over and the effluent flows downhill to the Sutter Creek wastewater treatment plant.

Responsibility for lifting this effluent lies with the AWA, which recently contracted with the city to increase the quantity in gallons per day that can be lifted and sent over the hill. This will allow further development in the Martell triangle that may, someday, include a new county jail.

Having Gene as a captive audience in his own Honda, I seized the opportunity to discuss with him the wisdom, as well as the difficulties, of pumping what we finally decided to call raw sewage. (A rose by any other name, you know.) He told me that it's a lot easier to pump clear water (not to mention store it) and that problems do arise from time to time with lift stations.

Personally, I think we've been lucky so far, avoiding major failures of the effluent pumps on Highway 88 and Ridge Road. When pondering the possible approval of the Wicklow Way subdivision and Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort, which plans for housing at elevations as low as 950 feet, I see an unnecessary gamble looming, filled with visions of very messy spills, brought on by equipment failures, power outages or generator malfunctions. Pumping millions of gallons a day of raw sewage simply scares the heck out of me.

If all the effluent generated by Jackson, Sutter Creek and Martell could be funneled downhill into one plant, most of the danger could be avoided. The existing plants could continue to operate, sending their treated effluent for finishing at the regional plant.

Perhaps overawed by Gene's power as planning manager, I decided a while ago that getting him to agree that the most intelligent decision would be to locate a regional recycling plant below 950 feet elevation was all it would take to make it a done deal.

Caught in the Honda, Gene came around to agreeing with my suggestion. He added that, unfortunately, his agreement was not all it would take. He said that a project like that would need cooperation among numerous entities, all willing to come to the table with open minds. On this day, with hope and change as the two main watchwords, we can hope for a change of plans, while still recognizing that the first rule of plumbing never changes.