Austin Water Issues Boil Water Notice

[Halohal 502]

PSA... CoA giving cases of water at the Onion creek soccer fields.  57G5+RV Austin, Texas

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2018 by Halohal
Update

[Nonbryan 173]

2 hours ago, landman said:

Huge bond election in a couple of weeks with $$$ for AWU would have nothing to do with the timing of this...

this.  Voted no just b/c they tried to politicize that shit

Edited October 24, 2018 by Nonbryan

[Your Mom 4852]

Fuck all this. I’ve been drinking the water.  

[boknowstecmo 216]

7 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

Fuck all this. I’ve been drinking the water.  

Good weightloss plan, at least 

[skittlebrau 474]

4 hours ago, landman said:

Huge bond election in a couple of weeks with $$$ for AWU would have nothing to do with the timing of this...

Wait. I was on the Bond Election Advisory Task Force. What are you talking about?

[Homercles 10206]

I would like to know the amount of overlap in the Venn diagram of "People really worried about the water situation in Austin" and "People who happily played in the doodoo mud at Austin City Limits Music Festival back in 2009" 

I wore boots, fatigue pants and heavy duty socks that weekend. Got a little Dillo Dirt between my ankle and boot, itched for a couple days afterwards. Can’t imagine what some of those Dillo dancers went through after being covered head to toe.

[MrBig 5440]

5 hours ago, landman said:

Huge bond election in a couple of weeks with $$$ for AWU would have nothing to do with the timing of this...

Ohhh interesting. I was thinking it’s more of a New Coke High Fructose Corn Syrup thing they were doing just to put a new additive in the water so we couldn’t taste the difference. 

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

On 10/23/2018 at 3:56 PM, Bevo Num1 said:

 
Why does it take 24 to 48 hours for testing results? Do they have an intern drink it to see if he or she gets the shits?

 

They take a sample of water, dilute it out to various concentrations, then inoculate growth media with the various concentrations. Then they count the number of colonies that grow on the media. From that they can calculate the concentration of the bad bacteria in the water. All that takes 24+ hours. If they wait until they actually get a count that is too high, that means the contaminated water has been flowing for 24 hours already. Since low pressure in the system creates an opportunity for contamination, they issue a boil notice immediately, even though there have not been any actual high test counts.

On 10/23/2018 at 6:15 PM, atomheartbevo said:

I want to rant for a two posts, one technical, one political.

Technical first.

1. First, I under the whole concept of too much silt-filled water coming in too fast and having to clean the filters and not being able to keep up with the filtration.  I also understand that they have to keep a certain pressure on the system for things like fire fighting, and so not-so-treated water is getting through.   This is the thing I have the least problem with (I think it should be a better system, but that's for the political post). I also understand that there haven't been any failed tests, but that they are worried that they will fail some tests.

2. This is the one I have the bigger problem with.  I did not pick up a copy of the newspaper, but I noticed in a store that yesterday's Statesman had a front-page article about customers being asked to cut back water consumption (this was probably printed before the boil notice dropped).  Austin Water began raising alarms yesterday that people were using more water from the reservoirs than was being pumped into the reservoir, and that the water supply could run out.  

It was something like "consumers are drawing/using 120 million gallons a day, and we are only able to pump 105 million gallons a day into the reservoirs"

What in the hell is up with this part?  Again, some of this will be for the political post, but we went from somebody telling the newspaper to urge people to cut back, to a boil notice, to a "welp, either cut back your water or the supply will run out!"

I would like to think those reservoirs have a few days worth of water in them, but either way, if LCRA can measure water levels down to the hundredth, Austin Water should be able to give us more than 12 hours notice that we need to drastically cut back.

To say there won't be water in the system if we don't cut back is kind of a Big Fucking Deal.

 

 

I think you are being a little overly harsh here.

 

 

11 hours ago, SquishMitten said:

Haven't seen it explicitly said like this, but I'm giving the benefit of the doubt because I believe it's what they mean... that deficit isn't normal nor was it anticipated. Only being able to pump 105 million a day is a big reduction because the water is taking so much longer than normal to treat. Because the water is so dirty at initial intake - seemingly the dirtiest they've ever dealt with - they legitimately may not have known how much longer it would take to filter. Once they realized it, they tried to make it work better. Once they realized they couldn't make it better/faster, they came out with the boil & reduce notices. Those two notices have multiple purposes:

1) A boil notice has the immediate effect of reducing water use. Think how much less water is being used right now solely because people are afraid to drink/cook with it. 
2) A reduction notice has that same effect. 
3) Because of a) pressure concerns, and b) a need to provide water (can you imagine the panic if we all of a sudden didn't have anything coming out of our taps, filling the toilets, showers, etc?), they were forced to keep pushing water into their reservoirs without it being treated to the normal standards. 
4) Because of #3, the second purpose of the boil notice becomes relevant. Since it all comes through the same pipes, the requirement to provide water for everything other than drinking purposes outweighs the need for purity and creates a risk that the water may eventually arise to a level of contamination that could make you sick.
 

 

This guy gets it.

 

[Jack Handey 57]

I boiled the water for 4 1/2 minutes and now it tastes burnt.  3 minutes is the right amount of time.

Edited October 25, 2018 by Jack Handey

[Updawg 2286]

I boiled the water for 4 1/2 minutes and now it tastes burnt.  3 minutes is the right amount of time.

Add some salt and Tabasco

[South Austin 52604]

2 hours ago, Jack Handey said:

I boiled the water for 4 1/2 minutes and now it tastes burnt.  3 minutes is the right amount of time.

You're bringing it to a boil way too fast.  Low and slow, and stir often.

[Telegraph_it 3359]

I think you are supposed to add salt as well otherwise it won't boil good. 

[phdhorn 6224]

From my tap this morning.  I think we're back to normal - finally!

 

[Armybrat 40911]

48 minutes ago, South Austin said:

You're bringing it to a boil way too fast.  Low and slow, and stir often.

Shaken, not stirred.

[The Dude 1246]

What kind of wood are you using?

[Trey3216 15356]

5 minutes ago, The Dude said:

What kind of wood are you using?

Cedar 

[Ben Tobin 374]

Drank iced tea at Los Pinos yesterday.  T's and P's* appreciated.

 

 

*toilet paper and Pepto

[South Austin 52604]

14 minutes ago, tjhooker said:

I boiled the water like they said before drinking it and I burned the absolute fuck out of my mouth.  

It's the only way to kill all the bacteria in there. 

[Telegraph_it 3359]

I've resorted to drinking strictly mate. The hot water will eventually give me esophagus cancer but no bacteria in my gut.

[HornOnTheBayou 8946]

4 hours ago, Jack Handey said:

I boiled the water for 4 1/2 minutes and now it tastes burnt.  3 minutes is the right amount of time.

I had the same problem. Mine tasted real dry. 

[fluff 87]

If you happen to boil it for 4 min, make sure to pour cold water in there to bring it back down to temp  real quick so it doesn't burn.

[idigTexas 2289]

What type of rub are you using?

[MissingInAction 25187]

Poured a bit o liquid smoke in mine while boiling it in a turkey pan. 

Grendle style.

Edited October 25, 2018 by MissingInAction

[4th&Five 41590]

“Shooting for Sunday” to end water boiling. 

Sounds real confident. 

[Deej 76920]

“Shooting for Sunday” to end water boiling. 
Sounds real confident. 

Shooting...??? At least half of Austin is now triggered.

[atomheartbevo 89799]

14 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

I think you are being a little overly harsh here.

It’s the City of Austin, so I find it funny some are defending them, but do you honestly think that Sunday evening, they suddenly discovered that we were using more water than they were pumping into the reservoirs?

Let’s ask our favorite council member what she thinks

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/boil-water-notice-should-be-lifted-this-weekend-barring-major-rain/1545457208

Quote

While a dozen or so city and county leaders provided the update during a press conference Tuesday, Councilmember Ellen Troxclair stood in the back of the press room listening. 

When it ended, she walked away wondering why the conservation notice wasn't announced sooner, given the rain and flooding events that happened earlier upstream from the city's intake facilities. 

"It would have made sense last Thursday or Friday when we saw that this was going to be an issue, that we should conserve water," Troxclair said. "We maybe would never have been in the boil water situation."

 

[atomheartbevo 89799]

5 hours ago, Telegraph_it said:

I think you are supposed to add salt as well otherwise it won't boil good. 

Not if the water is for your toilet/bidet.  You don’t want salt anywhere near that water.  

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

When can we flush our toilets again? 

[atomheartbevo 89799]

35 minutes ago, Grade of D as in David said:

When can we flush our toilets again? 

Anytime, all you have to do is add a few gallons of boiling water with a touch of bleach into the tank before every flush. 

[Wally Pryor 5263]

"Disaster" declaration from Adler?  Holy shit. 

[ftf82 486]

link?

[mightyfine 3]

 but do you honestly think that Sunday evening, they suddenly discovered that we were using more water than they were pumping into the reservoirs?

What likely happened was that the system operators recognized the deficit sooner, but they figured they could modify their treatment process to match demand before storage was drained. They probably eventually hit a point where they recognized they weren't going to be able to meet demand after making modifications, so they put out the notice.

I know a lot of folks, myself included, like to dump on CoA quite a bit, and most of the time it's well deserved. But to frame this as some kind of conspiracy is pretty tinfoil/loony. Now, the management decisions prior to this event that have put the water system in this situation, those are definitely open to rightful criticism.

[Neonmoon 38130]

16 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

"Disaster" declaration from Adler?  Holy shit. 

Wants federal money to pay for the water he’s been giving out

[bolverk 29718]

17 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

They take a sample of water, dilute it out to various concentrations, then inoculate growth media with the various concentrations. Then they count the number of colonies that grow on the media. From that they can calculate the concentration of the bad bacteria in the water. All that takes 24+ hours. If they wait until they actually get a count that is too high, that means the contaminated water has been flowing for 24 hours already. Since low pressure in the system creates an opportunity for contamination, they issue a boil notice immediately, even though there have not been any actual high test counts.

 

I think you are being a little overly harsh here.

 

 

 

This guy gets it.

 

Are you the Scheissmeister? If not, what did you do with him?

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

Just now, bolverk said:

Are you the Scheissmeister? If not, what did you do with him?

No, I just paid attention in my microbiology lab that week.

[atomheartbevo 89799]

13 minutes ago, mightyfine said:

What likely happened was that the system operators recognized the deficit sooner, but they figured they could modify their treatment process to match demand before storage was drained. They probably eventually hit a point where they recognized they weren't going to be able to meet demand after making modifications, so they put out the notice.

I know a lot of folks, myself included, like to dump on CoA quite a bit, and most of the time it's well deserved. But to frame this as some kind of conspiracy is pretty tinfoil/loony. Now, the management decisions prior to this event that have put the water system in this situation, those are definitely open to rightful criticism.

 

Foxy Troxy said they knew there were problems a week ago, and that we should have been conserving water.  

All they had to do was say on Friday or Saturday there was a deficit, and to shut down car washes, lawn watering, and a few other things like that, and ask people to go easy on water.

Instead, we wake up Monday to a boil and conservation notice, and then 10 hours later (Monday afternoon) they were talking about running out of water in the reservoirs if we don’t scale back water usage.  We were able to scale back usage enough within 24 hours to get rid of the water deficit (Tuesday afternoon). 

Imagine if we had scaled back our usage on Friday or Saturday, and had it under control over the weekend.  Do we then get the boil notice on Monday?  Or if we do, do we still get the Official, Official Boil Notice that we got yesterday?

[InkaUtexas 26108]

well then all the Euro's who came for F1 could not have taken showers. Oh wait... 

 

 

[ftf82 486]

Rumor going around campus that the water is going to be so bad after tomorrow that residents will be advised not to use it for sanitizing, bathing, dishwashing, hand washing or laundry. Son just sent me a text from a friend of his who works for one of the water districts. Guess it's time to panic buy again.

[mightyfine 3]

 

 

 

Imagine if we had scaled back our usage on Friday or Saturday, and had it under control over the weekend.  Do we then get the boil notice on Monday?  Or if we do, do we still get the Official, Official Boil Notice that we got yesterday?

 

 

The city has approximately 166 million gallons of treated water shortage per tceq's drinking water watch database. Assuming. Assuming a 15 mgd deficit between treated water demand and production rates, storage would be depleted in 11 days.

 

Now, storage probably wasn't full when this all started. If we're conservative and say storage was at 50% percent, then it would have been 5-6 days. Obviously these are simplistic estimates as the system is more complex with regards to hydraulic interconnectivity.

 

We would be boiling water no matter what because the treatment is sub par. However, it looks like they may have managed it pretty well with regards to physically having water at the faucet.

 

 

 

[SquishMitten 10435]

I boiled the water for 4 1/2 minutes and now it tastes burnt.  3 minutes is the right amount of time.

My wife is pregnant so I boil it until the pot is dry just to be safe.

[ftf82 486]

They should rename Lady Bird/Town Lake "John Snow Lake"

[SquishMitten 10435]

They should rename Lady Bird/Town Lake "John Snow Lake"

R+L = LB?!?

[Deej 76920]

17 minutes ago, ftf82 said:

Rumor going around campus that the water is going to be so bad after tomorrow that residents will be advised not to use it for sanitizing, bathing, dishwashing, hand washing or laundry. Son just sent me a text from a friend of his who works for one of the water districts. Guess it's time to panic buy again.

Great. Now we'll have a run on deodorant.

[Updawg 2286]

Rumor going around campus that the water is going to be so bad after tomorrow that residents will be advised not to use it for sanitizing, bathing, dishwashing, hand washing or laundry. Son just sent me a text from a friend of his who works for one of the water districts. Guess it's time to panic buy again.

Wife came home from work with the exact same story. Her boss's daughters friend works at the water Dept or some Bs. Sounds like bullshit to me

[Kavinsky 417]

16 minutes ago, Updawg said:

2 hours ago, ftf82 said:

Rumor going around campus that the water is going to be so bad after tomorrow that residents will be advised not to use it for sanitizing, bathing, dishwashing, hand washing or laundry. Son just sent me a text from a friend of his who works for one of the water districts. Guess it's time to panic buy again.

Wife came home from work with the exact same story. Her boss's daughters friend works at the water Dept or some Bs. Sounds like bullshit to me

 

[clapclapclap 9000]

22 hours ago, MrBig said:

Ohhh interesting. I was thinking it’s more of a New Coke High Fructose Corn Syrup thing they were doing just to put a new additive in the water so we couldn’t taste the difference. 

Perhaps adding Lithium?

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/24/18010592/future-perfect-podcast-lithium-drinking-water-suicide

How our drinking water could help prevent suicide

Some researchers think putting lithium in our water could save lives.

[Radical Larry 28663]

2 hours ago, SquishMitten said:

 

R+L = LB?!?

 

Well, looks like we got ourselves a reader!

[Michael Knight 12995]

[bschoolprof 6272]

She seems fun.

[MissingInAction 25187]

5 hours ago, ftf82 said:

Rumor going around campus that the water is going to be so bad after tomorrow that residents will be advised not to use it for sanitizing, bathing, dishwashing, hand washing or laundry. Son just sent me a text from a friend of his who works for one of the water districts. Guess it's time to panic buy again.

Sounds like the same shit every woman over 45 at my office is going on about.