SOMEBODY FLIPPING ONE FUCKING SWITCH WOULD HAVE KEPT AUSTIN IN WATER

[freyguy 4264]

"this has never happened before" can be a precursor to "old things that have never failed," finally starting to fail.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

3 minutes ago, TejanoAtUT said:

https://twitter.com/mattlargey/status/1490469504677289985?s=20&t=y70Htoy1ZvNelXX68kErqQ

[atomheartbevo 89628]

2 minutes ago, freyguy said:

"this has never happened before" can be a precursor to "old things that have never failed," finally starting to fail.

"This bridge has been standing for over 100 years.  It was made to hold the heaviest of horses and wagons. It's never collapsed before!"

[crash_davis 23101]

Greg Meszaros seems to really fucking suck at his job. Why the fuck isn't he fired yet?

[crash_davis 23101]

Dp

Edited February 7, 2022 by crash_davis

[4th&Five 41516]

City Manager Spencer Cronk thanked the city's residents for their patience during this event and made a promise: "This will be addressed and you can be assured this will not happen again."

Edited February 7, 2022 by 4th&Five

[crash_davis 23101]

"It's becoming clear that this was errors from our operating staff at our Ullrich plant," said Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros at a press conference Sunday. "[There were] oversights in how they attended the process of treating water at Ullrich and that's certainly unacceptable to us."

 

Bitch! You are the motherfucker in charge. There is no they. Own it fucker. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by crash_davis

[DaggerHorns 3082]

Jesus titty fucking tap dancing Christ. This city is so completely fucked, I’m speechless sometimes.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Sorry we pissed shit and vomited in your Cheerios!  Where’s my check?

[RDCanecutter 26392]

11 hours ago, drt said:

It’s like living in the 3rd world, but without the low cost of living!

[ThatGuyInTheBar]Actually it's the Third World experience from the point of view of the Third Worlder. What's cheap to the tourist is still all-their-damn-money to a local.[/ThatGuyInTheBar]

[Telegraph_it 3357]

I think a root cause analysis needs to consider if clean water is really that important. Move on from there. 

[Guest Lobo]

The root cause of Austin Water issues for the last many years is obviously income inequality and turning a blind eye to homelessness.  

[RDCanecutter 26392]

14 minutes ago, Telegraph_it said:

I think a root cause analysis needs to consider if clean water is really that important. Move on from there. 

Dirty water is the natural state.

[Steel Shank 9421]

Looks like the city is in dire need of a pipe-laying specialist. You know, a pro.

[Anastasis 23463]

3 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I just took a turbid shower.  Hopefully I won’t need the wreath fund or get eye worms.

 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

I’m alive enough to funk up some 7000 thread count Egyptian sheets yo. Wiping it back and fro, it’s itching but not so bad. 

[ztejas 43411]

22 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

Looks like the city is in dire need of a pipe-laying specialist. You know, a pro.

Bring Kelly Slater with you. 

[atomheartbevo 89628]

*sad horns* are playing in the background of that man's briefing.

[Steel Shank 9421]

18 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Bring Kelly Slater with you. 

aight

[atomheartbevo 89628]

I'm guessing they could declare the boil water notice earlier, but are giving themselves some extra time in case anything is fucked up or whatever.

[yoladu 4090]

Got signs up at the sinks to remind the kids not to drink the water. This kind of thing has become normal to them.

There are just times when you cant drink the water in major metropolitan areas in the United States of America. Bread, water, or toilet paper are not always going to be available in grocery stores.

Edited February 7, 2022 by yoladu

[Orange&White 5522]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

I'm guessing they could declare the boil water notice earlier, but are giving themselves some extra time in case anything is fucked up or whatever.

You seem to be giving them a lot of credit for some forethought and intelligence.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

1 hour ago, Orange&White said:

You seem to be giving them a lot of credit for some forethought and intelligence.

If I were them, I'd build in at least an extra day.  Not to make themselves look good if they deliver a day early (cue a Scotty joke there), but because of the shitstorm that will happen if it's not lifted by then.

[PantsTent 2002]

10 hours ago, yoladu said:

Got signs up at the sinks to remind the kids not to drink the water. This kind of thing has become normal to them.

 

Kids are adaptable. However, my wife did have to tape over the fridge dispenser yesterday after I came in from outside, filled a glass and downed it.  I've been waiting to die ever since.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

 

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, wife had to put up signs on the fridge and a few sinks.  So far Dad is the only one who had a brainfart and drank from the sink after brushing my teeth the first night.  Wife looked at me like I just smothered a bunny in front of the children or something.  I'll take whatever diarrhea is caused by this over the pasta-constipation that resulted when the kids decided, "Hey, since we have to boil the water anyway...let's make giant tubs of pasta!" all weekend.  Oy vey.   

[zman13 178]

New theory of mine - some staff at the Ullrich have not been following procedures and cutting corners for a while. It wasn't just a one day issue. When the water failed the test, the upper management started asking questions and discovered a deeper issue.

Edited February 7, 2022 by zman13

[Scheiss Meister 8407]

6 minutes ago, zman13 said:

New theory of mine - some staff at the Ullrich have not been following procedures and cutting corners for a while. It wasn't just a one day issue. When the water failed the test, the upper management started asking questions and discovered a deeper issue.

Since they are saying that it's operator error, this is almost certainly the case.  It is amazing to me, but the average operator has to have their training refreshed about every six months, or it runs out of their ear, never to return.  Then they tell you that they were never trained on that, or to do it that way, even though you have written records that show otherwise.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21874]

I'm assuming that the water treatment plant was constructed by a company owned by a cousin of a city council member and it really doesn't exist.  It's actually just a fake shell like those card board tanks they used in WWII to fool the Nazis about DDay

[Guest Lobo]

Don't fret everyone!  My Councilwoman, Paige Ellis, has declared she wants council to hold a hearing in a few months about this most recent debacle at Austin Water.  

HEARINGS!  WE DEMAND HEARINGS!  I appreciate the circus Paige, but we both know nothing will come from these and by then, we'll have moved on the next City of Austin pile of shit. like why we are now taking off the equivalent of roughly ten blocks of street lighting every month for the "Dark Skies" program while increasing funding for marketing/communicating/implementing the "Vision Zero" plan to have no pedestrian deaths in Austin.  doesn't really seem like the memo about better street lighting got from the Vision Zero Czar over the Dark Skies Czar.  I'm sure you'll still authorize an annual bonus to the two of them for some other reason though.  

Back to water...

I remember when Troxclair requested an independent audit of Austin Water to look into the first couple of boils, the overbilling, and to see if resources were being spent to keep the plants humming along, and secure.  And Adler and the rest of the progressively moronic Council told her to get bent.  And Austin Water has been a complete shitshow ever since, and it's getting worse.  And there's no oversight in sight. 

[Snake Diggity 4620]

This shit is the “losing to Kansas by 2+ TD” of city management.  Meszaros HAS to go and the Cronk needs to be told his ass is on thin ice.

I am not knowledgeable about city politics/operations.  Who appoints the city manager?  Whoever that is needs their ass reamed too.

[ztejas 43411]

3 minutes ago, Lobo said:

like why we are now taking off the equivalent of roughly ten blocks of street lighting every month for the "Dark Skies"

Is this why Austin is so fucking dark everywhere? The environmentalist in me appreciates it but it can't be good for property crime or driving safety. That's fucking hilarious that it's in step with an initiative to make the city safer for pedestrians. Just the other night I was driving down a DARK street and a dude in dark clothing was walking down the right side away from traffic. I saw him but thought to myself - you know, this is how people get hit by cars. 

[BabaYaga 15288]

14 hours ago, DaggerHorns said:

Jesus titty fucking tap dancing Christ. This city is so completely fucked, I’m speechless sometimes.

Myself and another dad on the kids soccer team were born and raised in Austin.  I went to McCallum.  He went to Anderson.  Both got out as fast as we could after college and never looked back.  Even my folks finally spit the bit and left a few years back.  City is such a fucking mess and this is yet another example in the mental rolodex of when people ask:  "oh, you;re from Austin?  Why did you leave....?"

[BabaYaga 15288]

21 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I'm assuming that the water treatment plant was constructed by a company owned by a cousin of a city council member and it really doesn't exist.  It's actually just a fake shell like those card board tanks they used in WWII to fool the Nazis about DDay

[WBT 20561]

26 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

Since they are saying that it's operator error, this is almost certainly the case.  It is amazing to me, but the average operator has to have their training refreshed about every six months, or it runs out of their ear, never to return.  Then they tell you that they were never trained on that, or to do it that way, even though you have written records that show otherwise.

And they'll bitch about having to follow written procedures because they know how to do their job

[PantsTent 2002]

2 minutes ago, WBT said:

And they'll bitch about having to follow written procedures because they know how to do their job

Can't one of the most innovative cities in the world (allegedly) automate some of these processes?

 

[Guest Lobo]

6 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Is this why Austin is so fucking dark everywhere? The environmentalist in me appreciates it but it can't be good for property crime or driving safety. That's fucking hilarious that it's in step with an initiative to make the city safer for pedestrians. Just the other night I was driving down a DARK street and a dude in dark clothing was walking down the right side away from traffic. I saw him but thought to myself - you know, this is how people get hit by cars. 

Yeah, our commission got some update on our sidewalk bond and it had an actual credit back to the general fund.  Turns out a lot of our new sidewalks aren't having lights installed with them.  The Dark Skies thing is actually a statewide thing, but most cities don't really do anything with it.  I don't like light pollution, my oldest and I are star-gazing nerds.  But Adler and Council not to be outdone in the National Conference of City Councils annual "Who Cares the Most Award" are taking this thing to the Nth degree.  Not installing lighting on some streets and turning off streetlamps in other parts of town.  And of course, there's some $150k/year employee in charge of the whole thing.  Meanwhile, literally right down the hall is the Vision Zero staff with their big budget trying to figure out why people on dark streets are sometimes hit by cars.  So nothing about the incompetence of this city is surprising to me anymore.  But just like the incompetence of Texas leadership in general, cynicism and disgust keep me frustrated as hell about a place I love...so I still drag my ass out there and try to make little differences where I can through service, volunteering, education, donating, and mentoring.  But that's getting pretty tough to do with NO FUCKING DRINKING WATER! 

i'm sure I'll have a few drinks and ask at the next meeting, "What happens when we decide the Dark Skies thing isn't worth the safety risk, and we have to go back and dig up these sidewalks to put down the lighting infrastructure?  Won't that just make the sidewalk projects twice as expensive as the original bond float?"  

Adler, "Tone" 

[Bevo 13568]

14 minutes ago, Lobo said:

The Dark Skies thing is actually a statewide thing, but most cities don't really do anything with it.  I don't like light pollution, my oldest and I are star-gazing nerds

It is interesting going to McDonald Observatory or in unpopulated areas of Iceland where I just got back from. The number of stars you see is incredible and so far beyond whatever you get with dark sky initiatives. I'm a small town guy at heart and I just get the feeling that most people in big cities don't give a shit about stars.

[Samson's Wig 3191]

Color me shocked that a system based on nepotism and lowest common denominator hiring practices resulted in yet another fuck up from a government run utility.  

[Pato del Muerto 52485]

Well I was on my high horse all weekend with my adequate city water in Georgetown. Then I drove to work and got slapped in the face with an unplugged coffee machine because it’s plumbed to coa water.  So now I’m outraged like the rest of you. 

[Scheiss Meister 8407]

52 minutes ago, PantsTent said:

Can't one of the most innovative cities in the world (allegedly) automate some of these processes?

 

I would imagine that the Ullrich plant is automated, probably to a high degree.  (I have no first hand knowledge of this, just stating my expectations based on the rest of the industry.)  Just like pumps and motors, sensors and communication devices wear out, malfunction, or need regular calibration.  There are also processes that cannot be fully automated at a reasonable cost.  Humans will always have to be involved to some degree.

[RDCanecutter 26392]

7 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

I would imagine that the Ullrich plant is automated, probably to a high degree.  (I have no first hand knowledge of this, just stating my expectations based on the rest of the industry.)  Just like pumps and motors, sensors and communication devices wear out, malfunction, or need regular calibration.  There are also processes that cannot be fully automated at a reasonable cost.  Humans will always have to be involved to some degree.

I am no Meister of Scheiss but in my teens I worked swing-shift at a fully automated sewage plant. At least it was fully automated when it was built in maybe 1970. Things gradually broke down or failed to work as intended, to the point where, fast forward, it became cheaper and more reliable to install a Beavis or a Butthead on the premises of the DooDoo Factory to patrol the grounds, push a few "automatic" buttons, and maybe once a month OH DEAR GOD shut down and hand-clean a clogged pump.

[Armybrat 40822]

52 minutes ago, Bevo said:

It is interesting going to McDonald Observatory or in unpopulated areas of Iceland where I just got back from. The number of stars you see is incredible and so far beyond whatever you get with dark sky initiatives. I'm a small town guy at heart and I just get the feeling that most people in big cities don't give a shit about stars.

Oh, they love Dancing With The Stars.

[baboso 6054]

19 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I am no Meister of Scheiss but in my teens I worked swing-shift at a fully automated sewage plant. At least it was fully automated when it was built in maybe 1970. Things gradually broke down or failed to work as intended, to the point where, fast forward, it became cheaper and more reliable to install a Beavis or a Butthead on the premises of the DooDoo Factory to patrol the grounds, push a few "automatic" buttons, and maybe once a month OH DEAR GOD shut down and hand-clean a clogged pump.

When I worked offshore, we had a sewage treatment machine on the rig; I have no idea what it's real technical name is, we just knew it as the shit-eater.  It would get clogged about every other hitch and we would have to break it down to fix some pump or something.  Nasty job.

[RDCanecutter 26392]

1 minute ago, baboso said:

When I worked offshore, we had a sewage treatment machine on the rig; I have no idea what it's real technical name is, we just knew it as the shit-eater.  It would get clogged about every other hitch and we would have to break it down to fix some pump or something.  Nasty job.

I cleaned the sump-pump to the primary clarifier 13 times in one year, I know because I drew tally marks on the wall. First time I had to do it (and it always happened at 3 AM when you're alone) I almost lost my mind, like, horror-movie-actor terror. Tried to make tools out of welding rods and scrap so I wouldn't have to touch the shit, ended up splashing myself like a rookie.

On into the year, I had a technique, I could get in and out while eating a sandwich in my off hand.

That sludge, though-- the smell had a texture like french-kissing a zombie who then vomited down your throat.

[Cap33 384]

1 hour ago, Snake Diggity said:

Cronk needs to be told his ass is on thin ice.

He needed to go a long time ago. They only reason he got the City Manager job was to implement the same building code reforms as Minneapolis. (And we see how that shit show is going.) He has and has shown no accountability, and he can fuck off with Adler and the rest.

[MissingInAction 25013]

 

 

[Bevo 13568]

17 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

 

 

don't look up

[Deej 76755]

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

On into the year, I had a technique, I could get in and out while eating a sandwich in my off hand.

Something, something...South Austin's mom. 

[Scheiss Meister 8407]

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

I cleaned the sump-pump to the primary clarifier 13 times in one year, I know because I drew tally marks on the wall. First time I had to do it (and it always happened at 3 AM when you're alone) I almost lost my mind, like, horror-movie-actor terror. Tried to make tools out of welding rods and scrap so I wouldn't have to touch the shit, ended up splashing myself like a rookie.

On into the year, I had a technique, I could get in and out while eating a sandwich in my off hand.

That sludge, though-- the smell had a texture like french-kissing a zombie who then vomited down your throat.

There are two kinds of wastewater operators: those who have been "baptized", and those who will be.  If you work with shit, you're gonna get some on you, sooner or later.