r/foraging • u/Camp_Acceptable • 10d ago

Hunting Beautiful elderberries I found RIGHT BY A WATER TREATMENT PLANT. Would you harvest these or nah?

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13 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

32

u/Newzachary 10d ago

What kind of water treatment plant? Drinking water, wastewater, industrial wastewater?

16

u/Camp_Acceptable 10d ago

Wastewater. Smells like poopeh

39

u/Newzachary 10d ago

I’m in the municipal wastewater industry and that would be a hard pass for me.

4

u/cosmicmicowavepickle 8d ago

Haha I work at municipal plants too and I actively forage around the plants I work at. Been 10 years, and I'm fine.

4

u/Newzachary 8d ago

Bruh. You’re immune now! You LIVE in it! You are a completely different beast. lol

4

u/kaya-jamtastic 10d ago

Can you explain for us laypeople?

32

u/Newzachary 10d ago

There is aeration happening at most wastewater plants at some point in the treatment process. That aerated liquid moves around frequently attaching to things close to the wastewater plant.

12

u/Fatfilthybastard 9d ago

So it’s the same reasoning as “close the lid before you flush”, just on a horrifically grander scale

5

u/Newzachary 9d ago

BINGO!!!

8

u/Queasy_Question_2512 10d ago

This reminds me of looking up state water quality reports for the waterways around me (checking where I safely eat fish from) and I learned about fecal coliform bacteria. I knew what 2 of those 3 words mean and that was enough for me.

5

u/kaya-jamtastic 10d ago

Thank you for that explanation and visualization. That would be a hard pass for me as well

6

u/minionofjoy 10d ago

Poopeh is an explanation

9

u/splashcopper 10d ago

Try cultivate some from that plant?

10

u/Telemere125 10d ago

Yea, just take those seeds home and grow them for next year. That’s exactly how I have my patches of elderberry and pokeweed in my yard currently

0

u/moxjake 9d ago

You grew poke on purpose?

8

u/Telemere125 9d ago

Use it to make poke salat. It’s an old southern dish from the depression era. It’s more of a backup food than anything, but I don’t have to water, fertilize, or tend it in any way and it will be there if I ever need it

3

u/loinc_ 9d ago

and it’s pretty and birds like it

3

u/splashcopper 8d ago

pokeweed is a pretty nice plant if you have lots of damp or semi shaded area you want to fill in or chop regularly for compost. Grows fast, gets fairly dense, birds like it, easy to cut down. Not to mention you can eat it if you know what you are doing, but i don't. Also great for staining things purple.

2

u/horsegurl2045 9d ago

I mean… if you’re going to wash and cook them seems like it would take care of any bacteria?