- 7 hours ago
Mike heading to the Dirty Potato Chips company in Oxnard, California. Despite much of the work being done by machine, Mike finds a way to lend a hand...
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00:00My name's Mike Rowe, and this is my job.
00:07Well, look at that.
00:08I explore the country looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty.
00:12Crap. Ow.
00:13Hard-working men and women who earn an honest living.
00:17It's dirty salt.
00:18Doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us.
00:26Now get ready to get dirty.
00:30Coming up on Dirty Jobs, when the chips are down, in this case, Dirty Brand Potato Chips.
00:35That's burning hot oil.
00:37I'm always there to pick up the pieces.
00:39Sharing pain.
00:40The deeper you go, the more pain there is.
00:42Help wash away the tears.
00:43Troy's gone in with a very fancy, tiny camera.
00:47And offer compassionate support.
00:49Troy, you may have gone in a little too close.
00:52You may, there may.
00:54And later, the quiet town of Rifle, Colorado has a dirty little sequence.
00:58In the building, I was told, evil dwells.
01:02We've heard there's a monster that hangs out in there.
01:04A ravenous, disgusting creature.
01:06Oh!
01:06That feeds off the fetid flushes of every toilet in town.
01:09Speaking of what we get.
01:11Some of the dollars the guys that collected.
01:12Poo dollars.
01:13Wow.
01:13Keep it.
01:14We boldly do battle in the belly of the belching beast.
01:18What the hell is that?
01:37I don't know about you, but I like to know where my food comes from.
01:45That's why from time to time on this show, you'll see me with my arm inside of a cow.
01:50Or maybe cutting up a frozen pig with a bandsaw.
01:54It's not always pretty, but hey, I figure it's always better to know.
01:57Now, if you're in the business of making food and selling it to the general public,
02:01you might get a little nervous to get a phone call from a TV show called Dirty Jobs.
02:05Unless, of course, you're so confident in your product that you put the word dirty right on the label.
02:11If that's the case, I figure, hey, let the chips fall where they may.
02:23The Dirty Chip Company was founded in 1986 in Memphis, Tennessee.
02:27They now produce 50,000 bags of chips per day at multiple locations.
02:32This one's in Oxnard, California.
02:36Hey, Mike.
02:37It's Kevin.
02:38Good to meet you.
02:39Thanks for having us here.
02:41I love you.
02:42All right.
02:43Before we go anywhere.
02:45Hey, I thought they were dirty chips.
02:47No, they're clean, but they just taste delicious.
02:50Where do these potatoes come from?
02:51Today, these are coming fresh right out of the field from Bakersfield.
02:54They were dug about 12 hours ago.
02:57So when you make a dirty chip, what makes them dirty?
03:01Well, most of the other traditional chip companies, when they slice the potatoes,
03:05they wash the juices off after they slice them.
03:08You'll see that we slice them.
03:09They go right into the oil.
03:11We don't wash them.
03:12It leaves that potato juice on it.
03:14Keeps that all-natural flavor, just like you cut them up at home and throw them in a pot at
03:18home.
03:19So how many different spices and different flavors do you make?
03:22We have 10 different flavors.
03:23What flavor are you making now?
03:25Right now, salt and vinegar, which is one of our most popular.
03:28This is the first snap?
03:29Yeah, and we need some potatoes, so let's get these dumped.
03:33Go ahead and flip that on auto.
03:38Up the conveyor belt?
03:39Up the conveyor belt.
03:41Go from there.
03:42They go up to the slicer.
03:43They fly out.
03:44They go right into the oil.
03:45We've got a batch that's ready to come out.
03:48It would be ill-advised to reach in and have a chip?
03:50I don't think that's a good idea.
03:52Got it.
03:53Right now, we're taking out about 90 pounds of potato chips.
03:56We threw in 400 pounds of raw potato slices, but there's so much water in them, once you're
04:01done cooking them, there's only 90 pounds left.
04:03So, one grown-up, full-sized potato, how many chips can you actually get from it?
04:09We average about 15 per potato.
04:11The big guys that you see in the supermarkets, they slice them real thin.
04:14Right.
04:15They cook them at a high temperature.
04:16You get a whole lot more chips in the bag, but they're real thin.
04:19A lot of them are broken on the bottom of the bag.
04:21Hey, get out of there, Mike.
04:22Come on.
04:23That's burning hot oil.
04:24How long do they stay in this oil?
04:26They usually cook for about 13 minutes.
04:28A lot of companies have to throw their oil away every couple of days.
04:31We use a system called Purify, where we run our oil through a filter every night.
04:36It takes all the impurities out, and that oil's like new every morning when we start up.
04:41While they're cooking, you've got to get in there and hit them every time the rate passes.
04:45Keep them separated, because when they're fresh, like they are out of the field from yesterday,
04:49they love sticking together.
04:52Just kind of hit them, keep them moving around, swimming around.
04:55Got it.
04:57Just tap the rake on the side, get the oil off, go ahead and pull her out.
05:02All right, Mike, this batch is done.
05:03Let's go over here to the discharge end.
05:06Go ahead, once they get about three quarters of the way out, grab that rake over there,
05:10and start to pull the stragglers out.
05:12This one right here.
05:13Oh, this guy?
05:14Yeah.
05:14The ones that are still floating in the oil.
05:16Gotcha.
05:17Now, if we don't do this, they sit there and float in the oil, and they absorb too much grease.
05:22That's the thing we need.
05:22Whatever ones you don't get, those will be yours.
05:25Great.
05:26Save me the high fat.
05:29The Dirty Chip Company has two kettles and cooks their chips in peanut oil, which makes
05:34them lower in fat than regular potato chips.
05:36But a deep fryer that's been full of peanut oil is just as dirty as any other.
05:40And wherever there's hot oil, there's a job that needs to be done.
05:45I was joined by Ted, plant manager.
05:48He designed the production system here, and it's his job to keep it up and running.
05:53We get a lot of oil and potato residue burned to these burner tubes, and when this builds
05:58up, it cuts down the heat exchange efficiency of the tubes.
06:02You said what a broom on?
06:04The hand is the best tool.
06:05It's got to be pretty flexible to get in and out between these pipes.
06:09Okay.
06:09Ever since I was a small fry, I've had half-baked ideas about people who worked in the dark underbelly
06:14of the chip business.
06:15But when you're sloshing around in the fryer tank, you've got to keep your eyes peeled,
06:19not take anything for grotten.
06:21Still a little warm down there, huh?
06:23Not bad.
06:24That's okay.
06:25Just a little searing pain.
06:34It's really hot down in the bottom.
06:36It sure is, yeah.
06:37Yeah, the deeper you go, the more pain there is.
06:45You can't eat just one.
06:52Potato chips were introduced in 1853, and today, $7 billion worth are sold in the United
06:58States every year, making them the country's most popular snack food.
07:02Being popular doesn't make the kettle they're cooked in any cleaner, though, but a hose and
07:06pressure washer will.
07:08Man, I tell you, I can't grab anything.
07:11I've learned it's never a good sign when you have to clean off the thing you're using
07:15to clean off another thing.
07:27Okay, this thing puts out a lot of pressure.
07:32It may shoot back at you, so try to stay out of the line of fire there.
07:38Wow, look at that.
07:40Chips ahoy.
07:42Troy's gone in with a very fancy, high-tech, high-definition, tiny camera in order to capture
07:48all of the nuance possible.
07:51Here's what it looks like.
07:54Might have got some on the camera that time.
07:56Might have had such a...
07:58Troy, you may have gone in a little too close.
08:00You may.
08:01They're made there, man.
08:05Every now and then, Troy has one of those days when he just can't stay out of the way.
08:15Did I carry on you?
08:22Okay, choose your weapon.
08:23I think we're ready to scrape off some of the dark brown stuff there.
08:27All right.
08:28And this stuff up here, we have to take care of once in a while.
08:30That's problematic.
08:35With that gone, we'll cook a lot more efficiently.
08:39All right.
08:42We thought we could just blast this off with that pressure washer, but it doesn't do it.
08:45I was really hoping.
08:47I was really hoping.
08:49Usually we'll bring guys in on a Saturday.
08:52Most of their Saturday doing this.
08:54It's a bad Saturday, I'll tell you that now.
08:58This is not about living for the weekend.
09:02How long have you been in the potato chip biz?
09:06Just over a year.
09:08What did you do prior?
09:10Made jelly for quite a few years.
09:13Yeah.
09:14Started off as a farmer.
09:16From dirt to jelly to grease.
09:19Right.
09:19You're just working your way back to the dirt.
09:21You know that.
09:23Coming up, when you're testing chips.
09:25That ain't going to work.
09:27Okay.
09:29Some just don't cut the mustard.
09:30Now this is just crazy right here.
09:32That's like a drunken frat party.
09:34So I had some extra flavor.
09:36Oh, no.
09:37And that does the trick.
09:39Look.
09:40Oh, yeah.
09:42And later.
09:43Everything we're seeing here went down the toilet or down the drain.
09:47Exactly.
09:47The muffin monster's teeth get a good flossing.
09:50Oh.
09:50You know what?
09:51That's probably like a tapeworm.
10:04The average American eats over six pounds of potato chips a year.
10:07Eighty percent of those are plain, salted flavor.
10:11Once the chips are out of the fryer, they don't go straight into the bags.
10:15Samples are periodically checked in the lab to make sure they're crisp enough, not too greasy.
10:20And all the chips are inspected to make sure they look right, feel right, and taste right.
10:25Hey.
10:26Hi.
10:27I'm Mike.
10:28Nice to meet you, Mike.
10:29You're Veronica?
10:30Yes.
10:31So what are you doing, Veronica?
10:33We're just doing sorting chips, sorting the dark ones, no greasy on it.
10:39What's wrong with that one?
10:40Too greasy, too small?
10:41Too small and too greasy, too dark.
10:43What about these when they're stuck together like that?
10:45No, they're not good.
10:47What about this one?
10:47It looks like there's a lot of salt on it or something.
10:50They're soft.
10:51They have to be crunchy.
10:53So that's too soft.
10:54Yeah, no good.
10:55Oh, no, look at that.
10:56No good.
10:57Oh, that's a good one.
10:59Look at this one.
10:59That's like burnt toast.
11:01No good.
11:04And we need to be sure the seasoning comes through out of the...
11:10What flavor are these?
11:11It's salad vinegar.
11:13Do you need some in there now?
11:14Yeah.
11:15Careful.
11:17Good enough.
11:20Don't scare, just dump it up.
11:22Is that all of it?
11:23Yeah.
11:23Oh.
11:26Oops.
11:29Oh, no.
11:31That's okay.
11:32Is that bad?
11:32Don't worry.
11:33No.
11:34It really isn't bad, unless you're downwind.
11:37Look what happened to Alex, that cameraman.
11:39We got him a...
11:40We got a little vinegar on him.
11:42Uh-oh.
11:42That's a new guy.
11:44How long did you say you've been doing this?
11:46I think you...
11:48You like it?
11:49Uh, yeah.
11:51You can tell me the truth.
11:52The boss can't hear you.
11:55It's hard to say what happened to this guy.
11:58It was an issue with the slicer.
11:59Now he's too small for his own good and shaped like Africa.
12:04That ain't gonna work.
12:08We call this a ride-along.
12:10A little too much oil in between the two chips.
12:12They fuse together under heat and pressure,
12:14thereby giving the end user an expectation
12:17that might be a little thicker than anticipated.
12:20Consequently, no good.
12:24We call this the bubble of surprise.
12:27There's a carbuncle-assist pointment.
12:29Again, it's a little air pocket, lightly formed,
12:32that can catch the grease or the oil.
12:34And you do not want that in that quantity
12:36running down the back of your throat.
12:39Get up.
12:42Now this is just crazy right here.
12:45That's like a drunken frat party.
12:49You always need to taste the chips
12:53so they have enough Disney.
12:55You're testing those?
12:57Yeah, you have to taste it.
12:59Now you put that one back down here?
13:01No, you throw it away.
13:02How do they taste?
13:04Do we have the seasoning right?
13:06I think we have light seasoning right now.
13:14Good?
13:16Oh, yeah.
13:19Oh, yeah.
13:21This factory cooks 90 batches of chips every day.
13:25When the last batch of the day is done,
13:27it's time to drain the kettle and recycle the oil.
13:29But when we opened the drain valve on the second kettle,
13:33the oil didn't go anywhere.
13:36Well, that's what I look like reflected in oil that's, what,
13:41about 250 degrees, Ted?
13:42About 250, yeah.
13:43It's like Narcissus staring at our reflections here.
13:46The oil shouldn't be in the kettle.
13:47No, we're trying to pump it out,
13:49and the level has stopped going down,
13:51so it looks like we've probably got a plug.
13:53A clog, something in the pipes that's...
13:56The chips that float or settle down to the bottom,
13:58there's a narrow spot in the pipe that they usually collect in,
14:02and they'll plug that pipe up,
14:03and we can no longer pump it out.
14:04Where's the clog that's causing that kettle to not drain?
14:09Usually it's right over here.
14:10We've got a three-inch pipe that reduces down to a two-inch pipe,
14:14and right at that reduction spot is where the clog usually happens.
14:18Take the top off right here.
14:20Is there a specific name for these kinds of fasteners?
14:23I don't know.
14:24Eye nuts?
14:25Eye nuts?
14:26Eye bolts?
14:26I don't know.
14:28We all nuts.
14:29See, I'm going to the right.
14:30This is righty-loosey.
14:31No.
14:33That's lefty-loosey.
14:35Yeah, but that's right, isn't it?
14:36Turning right?
14:37That's left on this hand.
14:38What's with the left hand?
14:39I swear, it seems like it's going in the right direction.
14:41Yeah, whatever.
14:42It doesn't matter.
14:42I've always been suspicious of that old expression.
14:49I just see my stupid reflection looking right at me again.
14:51Down the sideways one.
14:52Oh.
14:53This is the pipe.
14:54That's the one where the clog probably is.
14:56And the best way to do it is to pop this plug off.
14:59All right.
15:00And then it can come out both directions.
15:03Set that up and turn it to the left.
15:07Yeah, you may have to give a good tug to that one.
15:14I'm going to put that there.
15:20Oops.
15:20Time B.
15:23Okay.
15:23Can you see through it?
15:25I cannot.
15:26That means that we found our plug.
15:28That's our clog, basically.
15:30That kind of stuff.
15:33You didn't think you were going to do a plumbing show, did you?
15:36You know what?
15:36I stopped trying to anticipate what goodies were in store for me years ago.
15:42So, all right.
15:43That, I believe, is a clean haul.
15:45Are we set?
15:46Mm-hmm.
15:47Good job.
15:52You're probably better off to put them all on and then tighten.
15:58Why does the best advice always come to me mere moments after I need it?
16:02Oh, you know what?
16:02I forgot to tell you something, too.
16:04Oh, that's...
16:04We've got to make sure the O-ring is seated in there properly or else it's going to leak
16:08when we start pumping again.
16:10So, we're good.
16:10It's all in that little groove.
16:12I actually checked that.
16:14Did you?
16:14No.
16:16Coming up.
16:17Oh, I don't...
16:17Wait a minute.
16:18One, two, three, four, five.
16:19We need to be a little more faster.
16:20My mathematical skills are pushed to the limit.
16:23Three, four, five.
16:24Come on, Mike.
16:25As I face the greatest challenge of my adult life.
16:28Oh, my God.
16:29How do you close it?
16:30Hold on a sec.
16:30Oh, my God.
16:42While this kettle drained, it was time for the final step in cleaning the other one.
16:47What is this called, Kevin?
16:48It's a foamer.
16:49It's to completely sanitize the inside of the fryer.
16:51It kills all bacteria.
16:53It makes it perfectly sanitary.
16:54How much time would you say you spend cooking?
16:57Oh, about eight hours a day.
16:58And how much time do you spend cleaning?
17:00Usually 10, sometimes 12.
17:03Potato chips, man.
17:04You cut a potato, you probably throw it in a bag.
17:07You're not in the potato chip business.
17:08You're in the cleaning business.
17:10Sometimes we ask ourselves what we're doing.
17:13How do you...
17:13Will you turn it?
17:14Just twist it.
17:17Oh, yeah.
17:18There, that's what you want.
17:20Can't put too much.
17:21The more the better, it's cleaner.
17:22The more the better?
17:23Oh, yeah.
17:24Look at that.
17:25It's like Christmas in July.
17:28Golds do not see any more metal.
17:29You don't want to see metal.
17:30You want 100% coverage.
17:33No metal.
17:33Oh, there's some metal over there.
17:48That's the cleanest you've ever been.
17:50Dave Barsky and the kettle may now be clean, but that doesn't mean we're done.
17:56It was time for my last job of the day at the dirty chip company, and they'd save me a
18:01good one.
18:02The chips are bagged by a computer-controlled machine, then put in boxes by hand.
18:07And like everything else in this place, there's more to it than meets the eye.
18:11The chips will come.
18:13Where are the bags?
18:14There's 25 bags in the box.
18:1725 bags in each box.
18:18Oh, so the bags are there already.
18:20The chips are just going to go in and seal them automatically, and the bags come here.
18:23That's easy.
18:2425 in a box?
18:2525.
18:2525.
18:36Three and two.
18:38Oh, I don't want a minute.
18:39One, two, three, four, five.
18:40One, two, three, four, six.
18:42This is two six.
18:45My bag's a mess, Matt.
18:50One, two, three, four.
18:52You need to be a little more faster.
18:55Oh, man, that's 20.
18:57You need to get three or four at a time.
19:00Come on, you can do it.
19:04I want to do it.
19:06I want to be on the team.
19:07One, two, three, four, five.
19:12One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
19:15You need to be a little more faster.
19:1712, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.
19:20I can't even make a box, man.
19:24My God.
19:27Hold on a sec.
19:28I don't know how to close the box.
19:29You got to make a box.
19:30Stop turn down.
19:32Other way.
19:35You got it now?
19:37No, my hands are covered with oil.
19:39I don't know how you're holding on to them.
19:40I can't tell how many things I got in the bag, man.
19:43That's a real problem.
19:45You got it?
19:45No, I don't have it, Veronica.
19:47I want to have it.
19:47I don't have it.
19:51I can't even see your hands move.
19:58Don't think about it.
19:59Just do it.
20:00You can feel when it's flat.
20:02You're touching them too fast to feel anything.
20:05Not like that.
20:07Oh, my God.
20:09Man.
20:20I can't afford to keep doing this.
20:23I don't blame you, man.
20:25I think we just call it a day.
20:26What do you think?
20:26I'll crack it.
20:28Yeah.
20:29It's a day.
20:39Veronica Ramirez, Potato Chip Inspector, Potato Chip Boxer.
20:44She makes it look easy.
20:47It ain't.
20:53Well, the sun is set in beautiful Oxnard.
20:56And for one brief and shining moment, the dirty potato chip factory is actually clean.
21:02It won't last.
21:03And it's probably just as well.
21:04Look, I'm not saying they're good for you.
21:07I'm not saying you should run out and buy a bag.
21:09I'm only saying that if you like potato chips, keep it dirty.
21:19Coming up.
21:20It's like a gravy boat.
21:21We slosh through the muffin monster's lower GI tract.
21:24Thousands of little individual turds are caught in this area where I've made a dam.
21:29And I don't think he likes it.
21:31Monsters puking.
21:41It's not the kind of building that's going to win any architectural awards.
21:46Concrete, nondescript.
21:46It sits on the side of the highway, surrounded by a barbed wire fence with a warning sign on it
21:53and a locked door.
21:54People who drive by don't even give it a second thought, but I'll let you in on a little secret.
21:59The barbed wire fence, the locked door, the warning sign, they're not really there to keep you out.
22:04They're there to keep something else in.
22:07A monster.
22:09It's true.
22:10Today, we're going to meet the monster.
22:14When the people of Rifle Colorado flush their toilets, this is where it goes.
22:19The monster likes to eat poo, but the monster doesn't like visitors.
22:23The crew and I were about to engage in an epic battle.
22:26Despite the town's name, we were going into combat unarmed.
22:33Snow-capped mountains and a lake.
22:36Seems like it would be a nice place for a picnic.
22:39Actually, it's not a lake.
22:40Dave, pleasure.
22:42Nice to meet you, Mike.
22:43This isn't runoff from the snow-capped peak.
22:45No, no, no.
22:45No, what is this?
22:46This is our wastewater facility here in Rifle.
22:50The raw sewage comes from our headworks building there.
22:52It's pumped into pump number one.
22:54As you can see, these are aerators.
22:56They put oxygen into the water, keeping the bugs alive, which consume the waste.
23:01What wastes this left goes into our second pond.
23:04We have a series of three ponds here.
23:05So the middle pond is also being aerated, but now that has less waste.
23:10From there, we go to pond number three, which is over near our shop there.
23:14Uh-huh.
23:14Now, that pond is called a finishing pond.
23:17From there, it goes back into the Colorado River.
23:19Do you run the facility here?
23:20Yes, I do.
23:21What did you do before this?
23:22I was a master sergeant in the United States Air Force.
23:26It was rough.
23:27So you've prepared men and women for combat, and you are now keeping the poo in Rifle under control.
23:34Look how beautiful the place is.
23:35In the building, I was told, evil dwells.
23:38We've heard there's a monster that hangs out in there.
23:40What sort of monster is it?
23:43A muffin monster.
23:46Well, let's see what we got.
23:47You can tell that a monster lives here because inside it smells monstrous.
23:52Oh, oh, oh.
23:56Oh, dear.
23:56Kind of stinks a little bit, huh?
23:58Oh, look at that.
23:59That's, well, that's terrible.
24:02And that's, there's your monster.
24:04There's your muffin monster, yep.
24:06The muffin monster uses a conveyor system to separate solids from liquids and raw sewage.
24:11From down below, the solids are brought here, where the monster chews them up and turns them into super-concentrated
24:17muffins.
24:18But if you're looking for blueberry or bran-flavored, you're in the wrong place.
24:24This is the solids I was talking to you about.
24:27Tampons, toilet paper.
24:29Uh-huh.
24:29Speaking of what we get, this is some of the dollars the guys have collected over the years.
24:34Poo dollars.
24:35Nah, let's keep it.
24:36That's dirty money.
24:37It's yours.
24:38So they come through here in this gear?
24:40Yeah, the grinder grinds it up.
24:42This auger pushes the solids out into what's called a muffin.
24:46So this is the muffin?
24:47That's the muffin.
24:48What do you do with these?
24:50Gets buried, landfill.
24:51Thanks, Bill.
24:52Twice a year, the Muffin Monster gets a top-to-bottom cleaning, which means going into the sewer.
24:58That's our job today.
24:59But if we try to do it while the sewer is fully connected, the water down there will be too
25:03deep to work in.
25:04So I'm going to help Jaime, the crew foreman, install a bypass valve that will divert most of the flow.
25:11Jaime and his crew are part of Rain for Rent, an independent contractor specializing in water-related projects.
25:17He's at 22.
25:18It took me almost an hour to assemble four feet of pipe, which left me sweaty and tired.
25:23Then the regular crew came in and finished the job in 90 minutes.
25:27Don't get me wrong, I love laying pipe, but I'm an amateur at it.
25:32These guys are pros.
25:33The bypass worked by pumping water out of the sewer, detouring it around the Muffin Monster entirely, and sending it
25:40directly into the affluent channel in the first treatment pond.
25:44The amounts of solids and the waste being rerouted will be small enough that the bacteria in the pond can
25:49break it down.
25:50Lift it up.
25:52Next, putting the discharge end of the bypass into the sewer.
25:56Bring it down slow.
26:06What do we do now?
26:07We're all done here.
26:08Let's go turn that pump on.
26:09You ready?
26:10Yeah, I'm ready.
26:11Fire in the hole.
26:17There you go.
26:19So the flow is now diverted.
26:21Yes, sir.
26:25What's that?
26:27The stomach's growling.
26:28The Muffin Monster is used to eating 24-7, but with the bypass in place and the flow of poo
26:34diverted, it wasn't getting fed at all, and it didn't sound happy about it.
26:43All right, Mike, here we are.
26:45The Muffin Monster.
26:46Time to clean the old Muffin Monster.
26:49Dave, do you get used to it?
26:50Oh, yeah, you get used to it.
26:52Really?
26:52Yeah, I don't even smell it anymore.
26:55Anyway, we'll be using our famous modified tool here.
26:58What makes it famous?
26:59Did you make this yourself?
27:00Yeah, I actually did.
27:01So what you want to do is you want to push all the solids into the grinder.
27:05Everything we're seeing here went down the toilet or down the drain.
27:08Exactly.
27:09But was not organic.
27:11Exactly.
27:12I mean, in general, these are rags.
27:15Rags, plastic.
27:16Oh, you've turned this off now.
27:18No, it actually cycles off on and off by itself.
27:22So it knows when to come off and on based on what?
27:24It works off the flow coming into the headworks here.
27:26So it has a brain.
27:27Yeah.
27:28Like during the day, most people are at work.
27:30Not many people at home flushing toilets.
27:31So it kind of slows down.
27:33In the evening, in the morning, it speeds up.
27:36With this liver, we'll get the rest of them off.
27:42And you see that stuff hanging?
27:43Try to get that?
27:44Yeah, I do.
27:45You're actually a good worker, Mike.
27:47Thanks, Dave.
27:48And the reason we clean it is if you didn't, it would jam up.
27:50Then you'd really have problems.
27:52Oh, this stuff here, this slur?
27:54Yeah, not really the proper tool for that.
27:58This is not the proper tool for anything.
28:01I wanted to see the monster in action, so Dave turned it on manually.
28:05Well, the monster has sprung to life.
28:08You can basically see how it works here.
28:10It just turns the poo and the latex products and the rubber products and the plastic products into a paste.
28:17And this is normally a daily routine.
28:20Uh-huh.
28:20Usually do it in the morning.
28:22It's a great way to start the day, Dave.
28:23Yeah, yeah.
28:24Yeah, a great way to start the day.
28:26What happens, like, in here and in here?
28:29That's your auger portion of it that pushes out.
28:32And you push out about just like a foot a month of this muffin stuff.
28:36It's just really concentrated.
28:37Yeah, so this is really thick in here.
28:40Oh, yeah.
28:42There's your famous muffin.
28:47What we'd just done was the easy part.
28:50Now for the hard part, going down into the sewer where the poo comes in from the main line.
28:56The battle with the monster was about to begin, and down there was its home turf.
29:04Coming up, we give the muffin monster a monster enema.
29:07We need another 20 feet.
29:09Make sure it gets all the way in there, Mike.
29:10Right.
29:11But the monster doesn't seem very happy with the process, and chaos ensues.
29:17I don't know what the hell is going on.
29:19I've got to be honest.
29:19So we call on the power of the force.
29:34What's wrong with this picture?
29:36We're ready to go, Mike.
29:37Yeah, your boots go to the middle of your thigh.
29:42Didn't I tell you the water's deep down there?
29:44You didn't tell me anything.
29:45All I figure is you're either overdressed or I'm underprepared.
29:50So the smell gets a little more intense as you go, right?
29:53Oh, you'll love it down there, Mike.
29:54Yeah, I love it right here, Dave.
29:56Ah.
30:02So what's the actual name of this place?
30:05Influent Channel Building.
30:07Also known as the Headworks Building.
30:09The raw sewage coming in.
30:11Raw influence.
30:12Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
30:15What is the first job?
30:18Okay, we're taking this gate behind you.
30:20We want to shut off the channel, back up some water so that our pump outside,
30:24which we hooked into the influence channel, can get primed,
30:28and send some of this water over here to give us the opportunity
30:31to get down into the channel and start cleaning it.
30:33Down there?
30:34Yes.
30:35So all right, so how do you...
30:36So bring it over here, and I'll show you where it goes.
30:40Are you able to pry it?
30:42Pry it?
30:43Pry it in there with this, maybe?
30:44Maybe.
30:50They're trying to get this gate in there.
30:53Whoa.
31:01Ah, that's the thing, isn't it?
31:03That's the muffin monster.
31:06That might be enough to back up that water, get our pump primed.
31:09It's slowing it down.
31:10I can't block the whole thing, though.
31:12This is our pump galley where this buildup of grease over the years
31:16is what we want to get out of there.
31:18That's all grease?
31:18Yep.
31:21We hadn't been down there long before the situation started
31:23to seriously devolve.
31:25The beginning of the end was some simple miscommunication.
31:28Hey, you guys got that pump going?
31:30Yeah, you got a pump that gate.
31:32Yeah.
31:35In front of this?
31:36Yeah.
31:37In front of that?
31:38Okay.
31:39Oh, in front of the drain.
31:40Yeah.
31:41Oh, Dave, you sent me down the wrong hole, man.
31:44Sorry.
31:45They weren't clear up there.
31:49Just prop it up against the water pressure will push it up against the...
31:52That's what I'm hoping.
31:53I got it.
31:55All right, is it backing up now?
31:57Yeah, it's backing up.
31:58Oh, good job, Mike.
32:00There's still some getting in there.
32:02Yeah, but I think that's backing up enough for their pump.
32:06Now the next step is to come down this ladder into that pump galley
32:09and start cleaning that out.
32:11Oh, good Lord, man.
32:12That's the job.
32:13It's a bad one.
32:14I'll tell you, I'll call you down, Mike.
32:16Where are you going?
32:17I want to, that's where we're going to go in and clean.
32:19But we're going to need some flat shovels that are up above.
32:23What the hell is that?
32:26The monster was letting us know we weren't welcome down here.
32:31That's a bad hole.
32:32It's deep.
32:34How deep?
32:35Like three feet.
32:36The water in the chamber was too deep to go in and work,
32:39and the monster was getting hungry.
32:46That's the muffin monster growling.
32:50Seconds later, we had another mishap, and again, it wasn't me.
32:56Our tool's breaking.
32:57Did you just break the tool?
32:58No.
32:59That's a lot of grease.
33:00That's a lot of grease.
33:02And that's some deep water.
33:03Hey, this might be mission impossible.
33:05This is mission impossible.
33:07This is mission impossible.
33:10You see the size of that grease bowl?
33:13I didn't realize that thing, that water's deep.
33:15The only way to really clean that galley is to get in there.
33:18And you're talking three and a half, four feet,
33:20there's no way he's going to get in there.
33:22Even you.
33:23Or me either, yeah.
33:24So we would need another pump.
33:28Do we have another pump?
33:30They do, I believe.
33:33What's in here?
33:34Oh, that's an old sludge tank.
33:36Oh!
33:37That has been ignored for years as part of the old system.
33:40It's not in use anymore.
33:41It's like a gravy boat got left out too long after Thanksgiving dinner.
33:45All right, so right now, thousands of little individual turds
33:49are caught in this area where I've made a dam.
33:52You can hear the rumblings of the Muffin Monster
33:55as it tries to find new pieces of poo to digest.
33:58But it can't because I've blocked them off.
34:00Normally, they'd be on this conveyor belt.
34:02You can see it moves really, really slowly toward the top,
34:05and there's just a couple of random little pieces of poo on there.
34:08So I think David right now is finagling another pump.
34:13But you better hurry because the monster is getting hungry.
34:20A second pump was brought in to bring the water level down,
34:23and that old sludge chamber that Dave said was no longer in use,
34:27well, today it's going to get used.
34:28You just can't find a bigger hose.
34:34So you work your way back to the area we're going to clean.
34:37Right.
34:39Yeah, we need a lot more.
34:40One more.
34:41Keep feeding it.
34:42I'll tell you when.
34:43We need another 20 feet.
34:49Make sure it gets all the way in there, Mike.
34:52Right.
34:53We need another 10 feet.
34:55We need another 10 feet.
34:58Oh, now it's pumping.
35:00Yeah.
35:00That works.
35:02Monster's puking.
35:04All right.
35:05Here we go.
35:07Is that enough?
35:08That's good.
35:09Okay, that's good.
35:11That ought to do it, Mike.
35:12We need another operator for your interspecial.
35:16I think my just come in.
35:19We'll lift it so it's not on the bottom.
35:21Hey, you know about pumps, don't you?
35:23Oh, yeah.
35:24You don't want it sitting on the bottom.
35:26No.
35:26You should feel it pumping once it kicks in.
35:29I think it is.
35:30Well, that's definitely off the bottom.
35:32But there's nothing coming out of the other end.
35:35There's plenty coming out.
35:36I don't know what the hell is going.
35:37I've got to be honest with you.
35:39It's chaos.
35:43Hey, it's not pumping.
35:44We got it off the bottom.
35:46I mean, it looks like that's sucking.
35:48But yeah, it's not coming out of the other end.
35:49It's not coming out of the other end, so it can't be.
35:52David.
35:53Yeah.
35:54All right, I'm going to have to do is I'm going to put the pump in a different location.
35:57So we're going to have to relocate the suction.
36:00But we'll do it all year.
36:01We're coming to that moment in the day where I'm having serious doubts as to whether now we're
36:06actually going to be able to shoot the story.
36:09They want you to undo this hose here so they can pull it out and redirect it through here.
36:14At this length here.
36:15You think maybe there's so much slack in the line, there's not enough pump?
36:18That's what they're thinking.
36:19Yeah, but look at the look on your face.
36:21You're not buying anything.
36:22I am not.
36:23No, you think we're on a fool's errand here.
36:25Hey, did you guys notice this?
36:27Oh, that's good.
36:28That's pretty flimsy.
36:29Don't step through that.
36:30No, no, that's good to know.
36:32That's the first step you take is you come off the ladder.
36:34It's very exciting when your foot goes on there.
36:37Yeah, it's a good one.
36:44Whoa, it was pumping something.
36:45It was sucking.
36:47Yeah.
36:49All right, so they're going to take this hose, they're going to pull it up through that hole,
36:53and they're going to lower it back over where we were so we don't have as many links in it,
36:57right?
36:58Yeah.
36:59I feel like Darth Vader.
37:01Yeah.
37:03What was that?
37:06This place is haunted.
37:07You know that, don't you?
37:08What?
37:09This place is haunted.
37:10Haunted?
37:11Yes.
37:11What are you talking about?
37:12Ghosts?
37:13Guys have been down here cleaning over the years, hearing voices and stuff.
37:17Not their own?
37:18Not their own.
37:20One guy, no, I haven't been in this system long enough, but some of the old timers, they
37:25claim they'd be down here and they'd hear voices.
37:27One guy had a theory that the voices were coming through the toilet in the houses.
37:32Yeah?
37:33I don't know if that's true or not, but they swore up and down that they heard voices down
37:36here.
37:36I love it.
37:37It's the mystery of the haunted boob.
37:41Boob.
37:42Coming up.
37:43We've got to turn the other pump on.
37:44The whole thing's backing up.
37:45It's the revenge of the muffin monster.
37:47Crap's coming right at us.
37:48As all hell breaks loose.
37:50We're going to die.
37:51And the world faces annihilation.
37:53How much time do we have before the whole town just blows up?
38:22Safety supervisor Ryan had come down to make sure the levels have happened.
38:25hazardous gases were low enough for us to keep working.
38:29So you feel good about stuff?
38:30Yep.
38:31All right, great.
38:31We'll just have to keep monitoring it.
38:34It's the strangest sight.
38:35I've got a safety guy standing next to Luke Skywalker.
38:38That's right.
38:39Hold this lightsaber.
38:41Get the dome.
38:43Get the dome.
38:44Look at the way the light reflects off your head, man.
38:46Mike, have you thought of shaving your head?
38:48I think it's bumpy.
38:50I think if I shave it, I'm just going to look like Mr. Clean got a chair smashed over his
38:54head.
38:54Let me see the hairline one more time.
38:55You like that?
38:56You're getting there.
38:57Yeah.
38:58You know what?
38:58It adds to my character.
39:00I just have a high forehead, right?
39:02It's kind of sweaty.
39:03I used to say that all the time, too.
39:04It kept getting higher down here.
39:07Your forehead's pretty high.
39:09Man, you look scary down here.
39:10I got to tell you.
39:11Okay.
39:12I think we've got our hose coming.
39:13Oh, yeah.
39:14You might want to grab that.
39:17So what do you got coming down there?
39:19At the end of that hose.
39:21This hose, the discharge hose is the only one in here.
39:24Yeah, what do you got at the end of it?
39:26It's smooth.
39:26There's nothing hanging off of it.
39:27No, no, but what's at the end of it?
39:28A male or a female?
39:29Man, I don't know.
39:30It's a smooth piece of steel.
39:32Let me see.
39:33No, that's a male.
39:34That's a male?
39:35Yeah, and this side's a female.
39:36I figured the male would have had the thing hanging off the end of it.
39:39You guys have one to hook it?
39:41One down here.
39:42One?
39:43Yeah.
39:44At this point, things get a little chaotic.
39:46People of Rifle are coming home from work and using their toilets and showers.
39:51For the Muffin Monster, that would be feeding time.
39:55So you need...
39:55No, that's the suction hose.
39:56That's discharge.
39:57You have suction.
39:58You got the suction.
39:59I know, but we got to hook up the suction.
40:01No, no, that's discharge.
40:02Where's your suction at?
40:04Right here.
40:04Oh, give it to me.
40:06Oh, my God.
40:07Give it to me.
40:07We need suction.
40:08I need that.
40:09I need to hook that end over here.
40:12I could get a little higher.
40:13Superman took over.
40:14Well, I got a couple inches on you.
40:16No, you don't.
40:17Yeah, I do.
40:19We've got to make sure it's long enough now.
40:21Smear!
40:22Whoa.
40:28That was ill-advised.
40:31Oh, that might have been deeper than we thought.
40:35Okay, go ahead.
40:35Five minutes.
40:36Drive.
40:40There we go.
40:42Oh, look at that.
40:43That's something different.
40:44Where's that coming from?
40:46It's got to be coming from here.
40:47No, that's some permanent mine, whole line.
40:50Oh, that's not coming out of the hose?
40:52No.
40:52None of this makes any sense at all.
40:54Oh, yeah, it's rising for sure.
40:56It's got to be rising.
40:57Am I just imagining that?
40:59It just looks like it's getting higher.
41:00I tell you, the crap's coming right out of here.
41:03They're setting more water down here.
41:05They're pumping back.
41:06I mean, the water level's getting higher down here.
41:09It's getting higher, man.
41:10Oh, you know why?
41:11I can't live behind.
41:13There's already water in it.
41:14It's all backing out.
41:15They've got to turn that other pump on.
41:16We've got to turn the other pump on.
41:17The whole thing's backing up.
41:19We're going to die.
41:19Hey, you guys got to turn that other pump on.
41:22It's on.
41:23Well, it's not pumping out here.
41:26Oh, yeah.
41:27Boom.
41:31You say because the water's rising?
41:34I mean, we have, how much time do we have before the whole town just blows up?
41:40That's anybody's guess, Mike.
41:42I just know that the guys are getting home from work.
41:44And they're using, they're using, yeah, they're taking showers.
41:47All the water ends up here.
41:48Yeah.
41:49In the end, we diverted the flow of raw sewage, but not enough of it.
41:53Or at least, not in the right direction.
41:55Dave, Jaime, and the rest of the crew will come back tomorrow to try again.
41:59But for now, it was time to disconnect the bypass and leave the Muffin Monster to enjoy
42:05its dinner.
42:07Well, Mike, it looks like the Muffin Monster has defeated us.
42:10You know what I did, man?
42:11I cursed this whole thing.
42:12What?
42:13Dante.
42:15The minute I looked at it, I said, abandon hope, all ye who enter here.
42:24That's good.
42:25I mean, if there's...
42:25That's good.
42:26I read the book.
42:26If there's ever a sign, you guys want to hang on this place.
42:31Asiati ogni speranza, voi ci entrate.
42:35Dante was right.
42:38Hot enough in hell to bake a muffin.
42:45When I ask you to go to discovery.com forward slash dirty jobs to suggest our next dirty
42:50job, I don't want you to feel sheepish.
42:53Because if you do, I'm liable to get rammed.
42:56No one's going to pull the wool over your eyes.
42:59Just go to discovery.com forward slash dirty jobs.
43:02It's really that simple.
43:04Please, I am counting on you.
43:08And remember, mutton from mutton leaves mutton.
43:13All of those TV magic right here.
43:19Here, Kevin.
43:20You can sell these at a discount.
43:21Oh, you got it.
43:23Oh, we should get it down here.
43:25Mike Groh, this is my job.
43:27Name's Mike Groh, and this is my job.
43:28Are we done?
43:29No, we need a better one than that.
43:31My name's Mike Groh, and this is my job.
43:33We need a prop.
43:36My name's Mike Groh, and this is my job.
43:40Relax your neck.
43:41It's going to hurt.
43:41I won't lie to you.
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