SOMEBODY FLIPPING ONE FUCKING SWITCH WOULD HAVE KEPT AUSTIN IN WATER

[Wally Pryor 5261]

Go ahead and rely on anything the wet rag mayor has to say.

[Scheiss Meister 8408]

I will wait to see what the problem was/is before deciding how critical to be and who to criticize, but a citywide boil notice in a city the size of Austin is very, very unusual.  Something big had to go wrong at that plant.

[4th&Five 41565]

1 minute ago, Scheiss Meister said:

I will wait to see what the problem was/is before deciding how critical to be and who to criticize, but a citywide boil notice in a city the size of Austin is very, very unusual.  Something big had to go wrong at that plant.

It’s not that unusual here. That’s the problem. 

[atomheartbevo 89735]

3 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

I will wait to see what the problem was/is before deciding how critical to be and who to criticize, but a citywide boil notice in a city the size of Austin is very, very unusual.  Something big had to go wrong at that plant.

User name checks out.

"High turbidity" in the system.

Quote

he release says all Austin Water customers and retail customers of Austin Water Wholesale Districts and Utilities should follow the notice.

Here’s a list of the retail customers affected according to Austin Water:

• Night Hawk
• Travis County WCID 10
• Windermere
• Creedmoor-Maha WSC
• Morningside
• Rivercrest
• San Leanna
• Marsha WSC
• Wells Branch MUD
• Northtown MUD
• Manor
• Rollingwood
• Sunset Valley
• High Valley
• Mid-Tex Utilities
• North Austin MUD 1

 

[freyguy 4279]

They have ways to divert/contain contaminated water before have to call the whole system "bad".  I'm betting a valve failed somewhere, and they had no detection for a really long time.  And with it being a Saturday night, they hold am internal conf call, where a bunch of dumbasses keep saying "I don't know", so they nuke the while thing.

[Nonbryan 173]

2 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

User name checks out.

"High turbidity" in the system.

 

My toilet had some high turbidity in it tonight

Edited February 6, 2022 by Nonbryan
Sp

[atomheartbevo 89735]

2 minutes ago, freyguy said:

 And with it being a Saturday night, they hold am internal conf call, where a bunch of dumbasses keep saying "I don't know", so they nuke the while thing.

They probably had one guy trying to tell them something went wrong, and they ignored him.

 

[HornOnTheBayou 8937]

One of the perks of being a coonass is that I have plenty of big gumbo pots to boil water in. And I always have Jack Daniels available for teeth brushing.

[Scheiss Meister 8408]

15 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

It’s not that unusual here. That’s the problem. 

The news stories I looked at said that it is the first citywide notice since The Ice Age of 2021.  Limited area notices due to broken water mains allowing the water pressure to drop below 20 psi are not too unusual, but a citywide notice is.  They had some kind of major operational issue or equipment failure to cause that much of a problem.  

Disclaimer: I work at the wastewater end of the system, but I have some experience with both surface and ground water production.

[Texas Jeff 1945]

On 11/19/2021 at 7:25 PM, Deej said:

"HI, I'm Emily Chancellor with Austin Water Communications."

What a waste of fucking taxpayer dollars.

Emily is not going to have a great week...

My wife is watching figure skaters drink water before they go skate on frozen water and suddenly I'm jealous of places on earth with potable water...

[Dbeasy 15073]

If Austin would just treat water like it does the homeless, we’d have it everywhere. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Well fortunately I hadn’t dumped the 5 one-gallon jugs I filled the other day before the ice storm.  Goddamned third world shithole we live in.  

[Brisketexan 105161]

I think we can all rest easily knowing that we’ll appoint a special commission to look into this, and after a couple of years they’ll release a report recommending a simple solution to our water treatment issues: more bike lanes.

[TKthunder2 4992]

Fucking embarrassing.  Great job Austin.

[atomheartbevo 89735]

19 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

Emily is not going to have a great week...

Don’t pay attention to her.  Pay attention to what the interpretive artist paints. That is where you will find out what is really happening.  

[Texas Jeff 1945]

From two days ago:

 

[Anastasis 23479]

Out here in the land of milfs and honey we can drink the water but apparently the HOA has a hard time anticipating propane demand. 

[ztejas 43496]

1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

Out here in the land of milfs and honey

Salado?

[Anastasis 23479]

Just now, ztejas said:

Salado?

Salado is a milf hot spot?

[Guest Lobo]

tossing the milf salado?  

[atomheartbevo 89735]

I'd be okay with this if it was some kind of master plan to keep people from moving to Austin.

[HornOnTheBayou 8937]

6 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I'd be okay with this if it was some kind of master plan to keep people from moving to Austin.

Nope. People are reading the Off Grid Alaska thread and are thinking about a new kind of adventure. They're looking to take the plunge, but they're not too sure. Austin offers that great middle-ground of not having reliable water and electricity, but still has that urban vibe that so many crave.

"I really wanted to find a place where I could have a dedicated shit stick. But at the same time, I know that I would miss my Sunday avocado toast brunch. Austin really gives me the best of both worlds!"

Edited February 6, 2022 by HornOnTheBayou

[TejanoAtUT 15]

5 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I'd be okay with this if it was some kind of master plan to keep people from moving to Austin.

[Scheiss Meister 8408]

Just think of it as crunchy water, like crunchy peanut butter.

[atomheartbevo 89735]

Just now, Scheiss Meister said:

Just think of it as crunchy water, like crunchy peanut butter.

[TexArcher 37987]

1 hour ago, Scheiss Meister said:

I will wait to see what the problem was/is before deciding how critical to be and who to criticize, but a citywide boil notice in a city the size of Austin is very, very unusual.  Something big had to go wrong at that plant.

It happens like twice a year, it feels like.

[atomheartbevo 89735]

So, they want us to reduce water usage.

But it's going to be in the 20s tonight, so many/most will be dripping water all night.

[Updawg 2275]

It happens like twice a year, it feels like.

Floods, freezes, droughts whatever

[Updawg 2275]

Meanwhile $100m gets siphoned to the general fund

[TexArcher 37987]

So, this has to be freeze related, yes?  Or do we believe in massive coincidences?

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

4 minutes ago, Updawg said:

Floods, freezes, droughts whatever

Don’t forget zebra mussel invasions.

[Covri 6249]

If you take the reason given at face value and believe it, then yes the winter storm would have something to do with probably, but not in a way that is from negligence imo. Turbidity is clarity of the water and it gets murky (pun intended) after heavy rains in general. A freeze would be similar in that it captures lots of ground sediment and freezes then it’s all released at once when it thaws. TCEQ probably sets the reporting and shutdown guidelines.l for the city.
 

If you think the city is lying then it could be anything and they’re using a generic excuse to get through it. 

[bschoolprof 6266]

so just to recap, from memory, just in the last few years: a week-long boil notice a few years ago due to rainstorms; zebra mussels that made the water smell like shit; water meter readers that didn't actually read the meters, causing massive overbilling, losing power (and water to the whole city) last year because no one knew how to flip the switch to turn on the generator; 

now, a boil notice "for a few days" due to an "internal process error."  okey dokey.   Yet Greg Meszaros still gets paid $200K+ from the city.  

Austin is run like a 3rd world country.  

[atomheartbevo 89735]

Fucking A, this site is slipping.

Nobody bothered checking FlightAware did they?

[Texas Jeff 1945]

From the city press release:

Quote

Austin Water, PWS ID TX2270001, failed to meet the minimum treatment technique requirements for the month of February 2022. Specifically, our water system had a a multiple barrier failure treatment technique violation (CFE >1.0 NTU and IFE >2.0 NTU) and combined filter effluent turbidity (CFE) readings above 5.0 NTU.
 
Due to the nature and severity of this violation, the TCEQ has required us to issue this public notice and to tell all our customers that they should boil their water prior to consumption. 

A multiple barrier failure treatment technique violation ... that was my hunch....

[Scheiss Meister 8408]

I haven't found detailed information on exactly what kind of filters the Ullrich plant uses, but their website says that they are "gravity filters".  These are often sand filters, which consist of graduated layers of gravel and sand media, with the coarsest media on the bottom and the finest media on the top.  The treated and clarified water is pumped into the top of the filter and flows by gravity through the media.  The media filters the fine particles, including bacteria, that cause turbidity out of the water.

The filtered particles build up on the media and have to be removed by backwashing the media.  This is done by shutting off the flow into the filter, gently pumping filtered water upward through the media.  The water with the solids cleaned off of the media is pumped out as waste and treated further before being discharged or otherwise used.  If the backwash water is pumped too rapidly up through the media, it will stir and mix the media, greatly reducing the efficiency of the filter.  A valve that froze in the wrong position could do this, as could a mistake by the operator or other failures.  Other types of filter media could also be used, with similar need to be backwashed.  Any problem with cleaning the filter or damage to the filter could cause the turbidity problems. 

I wonder what kind of filters are used, what happened to them, and how much greater than 5.0 NTU the turbidity got.

[yoladu 4094]

2 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

It’s not that unusual here. That’s the problem. 

I feel like I have been conditioned to just passively accept 3rd world conditions from time to time these days. 

[TKthunder2 4992]

1 hour ago, bschoolprof said:

so just to recap, from memory, just in the last few years: a week-long boil notice a few years ago due to rainstorms; zebra mussels that made the water smell like shit; water meter readers that didn't actually read the meters, causing massive overbilling, losing power (and water to the whole city) last year because no one knew how to flip the switch to turn on the generator; 

now, a boil notice "for a few days" due to an "internal process error."  okey dokey.   Yet Greg Meszaros still gets paid $200K+ from the city.  

Austin is run like a 3rd world country.  

Seriously, I can’t believe more people don’t seem to care about how incompetent Austin Water is.

[CooterBrown 18015]

I doubt 50% of residents bother to boil water when asked to do so and I’ve never heard of any mass hospitalizations or diarrhea outbreaks.

[Anastasis 23479]

51 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

I haven't found detailed information on exactly what kind of filters the Ullrich plant uses, but their website says that they are "gravity filters".  These are often sand filters, which consist of graduated layers of gravel and sand media, with the coarsest media on the bottom and the finest media on the top.  The treated and clarified water is pumped into the top of the filter and flows by gravity through the media.  The media filters the fine particles, including bacteria, that cause turbidity out of the water.

The filtered particles build up on the media and have to be removed by backwashing the media.  This is done by shutting off the flow into the filter, gently pumping filtered water upward through the media.  The water with the solids cleaned off of the media is pumped out as waste and treated further before being discharged or otherwise used.  If the backwash water is pumped too rapidly up through the media, it will stir and mix the media, greatly reducing the efficiency of the filter.  A valve that froze in the wrong position could do this, as could a mistake by the operator or other failures.  Other types of filter media could also be used, with similar need to be backwashed.  Any problem with cleaning the filter or damage to the filter could cause the turbidity problems. 

I wonder what kind of filters are used, what happened to them, and how much greater than 5.0 NTU the turbidity got.

most accurate username on surly. 

[atomheartbevo 89735]

46 minutes ago, yoladu said:

I feel like I have been conditioned to just passively accept 3rd world conditions from time to time these days. 

We haven’t had trash pickup in a week either.

[atomheartbevo 89735]

Map of the boil notice area.  

https://austinwater.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=78f53b392a0a4eb2869b0e9fe127c92c

[Updawg 2275]

We haven’t had trash pickup in a week either.

And you will like it

[HenryJames 66133]

8 hours ago, Scheiss Meister said:

Disclaimer: I work at the wastewater end of the system

It’s piss.

[twosheds 374]

It’s piss.

And jizz. Mainly piss though

[Bevo 13579]

7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

We haven’t had trash pickup in a week either.

Probably related. I called the city and they basically told me that trash pickup decided to skip the week because of weather. I assume the water treatment workers stayed home also leading to the dirty water.

[XYZ 2154]

Am I the only asshole who doesn’t give a shit about the boil notice?

[HenryJames 66133]

Days.

[Hefeweizen 5328]

9 hours ago, Scheiss Meister said:

I haven't found detailed information on exactly what kind of filters the Ullrich plant uses, but their website says that they are "gravity filters".  These are often sand filters, which consist of graduated layers of gravel and sand media, with the coarsest media on the bottom and the finest media on the top.  The treated and clarified water is pumped into the top of the filter and flows by gravity through the media.  The media filters the fine particles, including bacteria, that cause turbidity out of the water.

The filtered particles build up on the media and have to be removed by backwashing the media.  This is done by shutting off the flow into the filter, gently pumping filtered water upward through the media.  The water with the solids cleaned off of the media is pumped out as waste and treated further before being discharged or otherwise used.  If the backwash water is pumped too rapidly up through the media, it will stir and mix the media, greatly reducing the efficiency of the filter.  A valve that froze in the wrong position could do this, as could a mistake by the operator or other failures.  Other types of filter media could also be used, with similar need to be backwashed.  Any problem with cleaning the filter or damage to the filter could cause the turbidity problems. 

I wonder what kind of filters are used, what happened to them, and how much greater than 5.0 NTU the turbidity got.

Wild ass guess since I don’t do much COA work.  I suspect some kind of backwash malfunction that caused the filter media failure.  The turbidimeter on the discharge may have failed.  That’s enough for a breakthrough.  This was not a clarifier or chlorination failure.  And yeah as far as surface water treatment goes violating NTU standards is as bad as it gets for normal failure.  Beyond that it’s some kind of chemical feed issue or source water contamination.

[Hefeweizen 5328]

6 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Am I the only asshole who doesn’t give a shit about the boil notice?

Low pressure boil notices don’t make a shit.  I am involved in treatment at both ends and high NTU is bad news.  That’s how giardiasis and cryptosporidium happen.