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2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on

Parliament

By Parliament
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SubliminalHorn
SubliminalHorn

Power back on. 109 hours. I almost want to cry a little 

Machinator
Machinator
BradInATX
BradInATX

I've actually been turning my heat up a degree every time a new Surly member loses power on this thread. It's a nice balmy 94 in here.

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4th_and_18

4th_and_18 687

Posted
Posted
If you're into conspiracy theories, lot of people are claiming the numbers are being deliberately fudged to cover up how bad it is.  
Occam's Razor for me - good old fashioned incompetence and/or left hand not talking to the right hand.
It's pointless though - they can't hide it from the people who are actually without power or water or both.

It’s as simple as some reports use “customers” and some use “people” and everyone thinks it’s the same.
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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45673

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I don't understand either because we aren't going to run out of water. I am not without water because the city ran out. I am without water because there is no pressure because the power grid is fucked and pump stations and water treatment plants are having issues staying online. We have gotten - what - a foot of precip in the past 5 days? And we were nowhere near drought conditions to begin with. 

So my understanding is that too many people have water flowing and there aren’t enough pumps with power to keep the pressure up. If the pressure drops, there’s a billion cracks that let in contaminants and then you have to boil. 
 

Everything I just said could be wrong. 

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Anastasis

Anastasis 23469

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Having grown up in West Texas and getting my undergrad while living in super cheap and crappily built apartments in Lubbock up on the High Plains (regularly gets very cold there at night during winter), I wasn't too concerned about bursting pipes so long as I kept the indoor faucets at a decent low stream. Now, with zero water, I'm definitely on #teamwateroff@mainline.

For the early adherents, as well as the newly converted by threat of violence, just remember to open your faucets and restore the pressure very gradually when we get to the point that we can turn things back on.  You don't want to send a full pressure blast into the empty lines. 

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Chapo

Chapo 104

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

https://poweroutage.us/area/state/texas

Just in case you were looking for the website.

We are getting hit tonight, with snow setting in at 4 AM tomorrow.  However, we won't get as cold as you guys.

Ok, found out where the bullshit is coming from

Electric Providers for Harris

Provider                                  Customers Tracked                    Customers Out                                         Last Updated
CenterPoint Energy                 1,957,148                                  305,024                                        2/17/2021, 03:45:06 PM
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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, clapclapclap said:

Austin FC:  We can't turn off our stadium lights yet because it requires a trained and licensed lefthanded tightrope walking specialist.  And maybe their jetpack doesn't work in these temps.  And maybe earthquake risks.  Truth or BS?

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-fc-responds-after-complaints-stadium-lights-were-on-while-thousands-of-residents-were-without-power/

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin’s pro soccer team is responding to fierce criticism after several residents noticed the team’s stadium kept its lights on while thousands of Texans were without power during biting cold temperatures.

In a statement on Tuesday, Austin FC explained the lights being on — while residents were being asked to conserve power — was due to an automated timer for the stadium’s overhead LED lights.

These lights, Austin FC says, must be disconnected by a licensed electrician — which was increasingly difficult to get as icy road conditions made travel dangerous on Sunday and Monday.

“Austin FC and our construction team are very sorry that this work has not been able to be safely performed as of yet as we recognize this is a very difficult time for our region,” the organization said.

Austin FC says technicians will attempt to disconnect the lighting as soon as is possible and safe.

 

Fuck those guys. If not BS,  then TERRIBLE planning.

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bolverk

bolverk 29660

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

For the early adherents, as well as the newly converted by threat of violence, just remember to open your faucets and restore the pressure very gradually when we get to the point that we can turn things back on.  You don't want to send a full pressure blast into the empty lines. 

Y'all, listen to this man.

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ztejas

ztejas 43418

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Biff Tannen said:

So my understanding is that too many people have water flowing and there aren’t enough pumps with power to keep the pressure up.

This makes more sense. And it crossed my mind after I commented. So it isn't really about "conserving" water although the practices on the consumer end are the same regardless of the "why" of it.

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4th&Five

4th&Five 41525

Posted
Posted

Made it back to my house to make sure it wasn’t flooded. No signs of rupture so far. Turned off at street. I know it’s been asked and answered but what’s my process for turning it back on Friday and checking for leaks?

Roads weren’t terrible. Made it to Costco south before they closed at 3 and got some water and dinner. No line at Whole Foods either. Had plenty right now to get people through a day or two. 

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Surly Bevo

Surly Bevo 24908

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Yep.  A shitload of people have the mindset of "HEY I GOT POWER AND/OR WATER BACK, LET 'ER RIP!"

Well in fairness if your house is in the mid to low 40s or worse you are gonna kind of have to let it rip from a heating perspective to get it back up into even the low 60s.   That's why having people go down for such extended periods is dumb because when you bring them back up there is going to be a huge energy suck as they try to stabilize things

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Eastwood

Eastwood 4394

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, TKthunder2 said:

Anyone got an answer?  Do I need to shut off the main if we have no water?

I was told by a friend who is a highly qualified plumber (he is the lead engineer for all fountains and pools at a major Vegas casino) to go ahead and shut the main, unplug the water heater, drain it, open all spigots, and hope for the best. Without any pressure to push water through the pipes, all we can do is drain as much as we can, allow pressure to vent, and hope for the best.

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Message Board User

Message Board User 12395

Posted
Posted
Just now, ztejas said:

We are using 3 times more water than "ever before"? That can't just be from dripping faucets can it? 

Depends what you mean by "drip."  I'm sure there are many folks around Austin that have turned their water on full blast overnight.  Hell, just on this thread there are some folks who confessed to running their outside spigots on full blast.

The 2-3x number sounds entirely reasonable to me.

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bolverk

bolverk 29660

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

my primary concern at this point is that I had some lines that didn't drain and still froze.  I guess we'll see, but last thing I want to do is shock the system with a full turn blast. 

That's absolutely a valid concern. I'll likely keep mine off until Sunday after a couple days of thaw just to allow any potential ice in the lines to fully melt. Right now, I've got several faucets fully open and they were just blowing a little air after the city cut this part of Austin off. Then, my neighbor and I cut the main line at the street. Opening it all back up may be a little tricky, but I figure I'll give a couple nonfreezing days a chance. On the plus side, I live alone so only my daughter's cat will have to deal with my filthy stench. I did take a nice, long hot shower yesterday morning to warm my bones while the power was still off and my house was in a deep freeze.

PSA: If you live in my neck of the woods near southern end of West Gate, the store at the intersection with Davis is open and with power. The one hilly portion of West Gate has also been sanded. They still had some bottled water a half hour ago but going fast. They're also fully stocked on wine and beer.

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bolverk

bolverk 29660

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, Chopper said:

Dumb question, but there's such a huge demand for water in Austin because there's so many pipe breaks? 

Yes.

12 minutes ago, Not that Bob said:

Water just went off. Is there really a reason to turn it off at the street since none is coming in from there. Faucets all gurgled like they were emptying backwards when water went off. 

Yes.

11 minutes ago, ztejas said:

We are using 3 times more water than "ever before"? That can't just be from dripping faucets can it? 

Yes, plus lines are bursting.

7 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

Lines busting and running probably. 

Yes, this is happening.

Edited by bolverk
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hayden_horn

hayden_horn 11362

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, ztejas said:

We are using 3 times more water than "ever before"? That can't just be from dripping faucets can it? 

 

3 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

Depends what you mean by "drip."  I'm sure there are many folks around Austin that have turned their water on full blast overnight.  Hell, just on this thread there are some folks who confessed to running their outside spigots on full blast.

The 2-3x number sounds entirely reasonable to me.

 

2 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

Lines busting and running probably. 

https://www.kxan.com/investigations/austins-losing-more-water-through-leaks/

and not just residential. the city wastes so much water in crumbling infrastructure, i can't imagine this freeze hasn't affected their resources as well.

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ztejas

ztejas 43418

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

Depends what you mean by "drip."  I'm sure there are many folks around Austin that have turned their water on full blast overnight.  Hell, just on this thread there are some folks who confessed to running their outside spigots on full blast.

The 2-3x number sounds entirely reasonable to me.

I guess. But no one is running sprinklers. Hundreds of thousands of people are without electricity so they aren't running their washing machines or dishwashers. A lot of people are without hot water I'm guessing if they have an electric heater so they aren't showering. Hell, we have had hot water almost this entire time up until this morning and I've showered once in maybe 4 days. 

It seems like there would be a lot of ground for dripping/running faucets and breakage leaks to cover to get to 3 times the usage of a 110 degree day in August. 

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hornian

hornian 5212

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Posted

I got power back after almost 60 hours without it (78731, near Bull Creek and 2222). 

First thing I did was take a shower.

Second thing I did was make a whole mess of breakfast tacos since they reheat easily. 

Third thing was post on Surly. 

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Message Board User

Message Board User 12395

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, hornian said:

I got power back after almost 60 hours without it (78731, near Bull Creek and 2222). 

First thing I did was take a shower.

Second thing I did was make a whole mess of breakfast tacos since they reheat easily. 

Third thing was post on Surly. 

Sounds like you got your priorities backwards.

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Blotto

Blotto 23497

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

Fuck those guys. If not BS,  then TERRIBLE planning.

Ha I know the guy that sold them their fancy new LED lighting set-up. I'm going to give him shit for this, if thats true. What kind of a lighting system requires a licensed electrician for simple on/off operation. I cant believe that's a thing.

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bolverk

bolverk 29660

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Blotto said:

Ha I know the guy that sold them their fancy new LED lighting set-up. I'm going to give him shit for this, if thats true. What kind of a lighting system requires a licensed electrician for simple on/off operation. I cant believe that's a thing.

Licensed electricians who know how to leverage their licenses for $.

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rpspeed

rpspeed 1363

Posted
Posted
A friend posted this, much smaller scale but  same problems
 
***URGENT*** City of Kilgore Institutes Stage 3 Water restrictions!
Normal winter usage is 800 gallons per minute in Kilgore, we are currently at 2,500 gallons per minute (highest usage ever), and we can only produce water at 1,300 gallons per minute. In other words, we're running out of water and we need your help.
We've found dozens of homes and businesses with water pouring out from inside where the owner had no idea. Please help out by conserving and looking around to help locate leaks. If you see something, please call it in at 903-984-5081.

 

 

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Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5294

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

ERCOT showing capacity up to 54GW.  

It's been climbing all day and this is about 10GW better than most of the week.

Centerpoint's latest update shows 53.5% of customers with power, down to 1.12M without. Still terrible, but that's a 11.5%/350K improvement since early this morning.

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Constant

Constant 6731

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

What I don’t understand is this. There are 500K in Austin with power the whole time. And 200K without. Why couldn’t you cycle some of us without for 12 hours or so. Just to get us to warm up a bit. Ugh 

I think that is the million dollar question. I think we all were fine with a ‘everyone do your part’ mentality of rolling blackouts. I know I was prepared and had explained it to my kids as a greater good to the community. 
 

Turns out we spent 50 hours in the dark and cold while surrounding neighborhoods never once had a flicker. That was hard to explain and I don’t think i’ll ever reconcile with whatever bullshit they throw out there. It is fucked up and should never happen. 

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ztejas

ztejas 43418

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Constant said:

I think that is the million dollar question. I think we all were fine with a ‘everyone do your part’ mentality of rolling blackouts. I know I was prepared and had explained it to my kids as a greater good to the community. 
 

Turns out we spent 50 hours in the dark and cold while surrounding neighborhoods never once had a flicker. That was hard to explain and I don’t think i’ll ever reconcile with whatever bullshit they throw out there. It is fucked up and should never happen. 

"Well kids, people suck and sometimes life just hands you a shit sandwich"

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NIUHuskies

NIUHuskies 504

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, hornian said:

I got power back after almost 60 hours without it (78731, near Bull Creek and 2222). 

First thing I did was take a shower.

Second thing I did was make a whole mess of breakfast tacos since they reheat easily. 

Third thing was post on Surly. 

This guy/gal has their priorities straight...

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105095

Posted
Posted
When we start getting water back and are thawed out, open your mainline, close all your spigots, then go back out to the meter. If the dial is still spinning after a couple of minutes, you likely have a leak somewhere.


This is GREAT ADVICE. I’d forgotten, a water utility client taught em that trick years ago. Open your faucets, turn the main water on slowly (to avoid a slam in pressure). Let your faucets run for a minute to clear air from the line. Then turn them all off. If the meter is spinning, you have a leak.

I think that is the million dollar question. I think we all were fine with a ‘everyone do your part’ mentality of rolling blackouts. I know I was prepared and had explained it to my kids as a greater good to the community. 
 
Turns out we spent 50 hours in the dark and cold while surrounding neighborhoods never once had a flicker. That was hard to explain and I don’t think i’ll ever reconcile with whatever bullshit they throw out there. It is fucked up and should never happen. 


We obviously don’t have infrastructure to do that. I suspect that is planning failure #388,566. And I am certain someone made a profit from that decision.
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Chopper

Chopper 17230

Posted
Posted (edited)
19 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

What I don’t understand is this. There are 500K in Austin with power the whole time. And 200K without. Why couldn’t you cycle some of us without for 12 hours or so. Just to get us to warm up a bit. Ugh 

In some areas/neighborhoods they can't turn off the power due to life saving equipment, emergency equipment, etc. It may be as simple as if one guy down the street can only breath on a respirator and he's registered it with the electric department, they can't shut down power on purpose to that entire grid/circuit. That doesn't include city hall, the 911 offices, police and fire departments, etc. I don't know how many roofs one circuit or grid, whatever the terminology, serves, but you'd have to subtract those connections and then cycle power through whatever the remainder. Why that's not happening, I don't know.

Edited by Chopper
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Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5294

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, NIUHuskies said:

Supposed to be headed to H-town Friday, how's the craziness there?

About half the town has power at any given moment, usually for a few hours then it gets shut off again. Almost nowhere has reliable water. It's fucked. Probably better by Friday, but I wouldn't count on it.

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Updawg

Updawg 2266

Posted
Posted
That's absolutely a valid concern. I'll likely keep mine off until Sunday after a couple days of thaw just to allow any potential ice in the lines to fully melt. Right now, I've got several faucets fully open and they were just blowing a little air after the city cut this part of Austin off. Then, my neighbor and I cut the main line at the street. Opening it all back up may be a little tricky, but I figure I'll give a couple nonfreezing days a chance. On the plus side, I live alone so only my daughter's cat will have to deal with my filthy stench. I did take a nice, long hot shower yesterday morning to warm my bones while the power was still off and my house was in a deep freeze.
PSA: If you live in my neck of the woods near southern end of West Gate, the store at the intersection with Davis is open and with power. The one hilly portion of West Gate has also been sanded. They still had some bottled water a half hour ago but going fast. They're also fully stocked on wine and beer.

That’s a good store. I drop in there when I am over there
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