Massively corrupt Texas town now has black water

[catsmate]

And it ain't 'Texas Tea'...

The small Texan town of Crystal City (population 7,500 atm but probably lower soon) previously known for it's endemic corruption (all but one of it's city council have been arrested, as have the mayor, acting mayor and city manager; WP link) now has another claim to fame (infamy?); it's tap water turned black last week. Described by locals as "black sludge" (link) the malodourous fluid seems to be the result of about thirty years worth of sediment and other material accumulating in a storage tank, which hasn't been cleaned in decades.

 

[Norman Alexander]

I can haz schadenfreude?

 

[Rincewind]

Crystal City? Great name under the circumstances!

 

[marplots]

Black water matters?

 

[C_Felix]

Black water matters?

This post makes me want a like button on this forum.

 

[Macgyver1968]

Town officials told residents to run their taps until the water turned clear, and then to boil it just in case. Firefighters around the town also opened fire hydrants to leak out as much of the sediment as possible. Ramirez told KSAT the water should be fine to drink as soon as today.

At least it was just a temporary situation.

 

[marplots]

I don't see why you'd have to boil it. If it's been in pipes providing non-infective water, then the sediment wouldn't be introducing anything new, other than particulates. Better to just let it settle out - that's what sediment wants to do anyhow.

The better result of this story is for the rest of us, who don't live in failed communities, to get a good look at what we take for granted and pay a little more attention to our own local government. Good civics lesson.

"Yes, it can fall apart. No, you can't count on inertia and things just running along smoothly."

 

[marplots]

This post makes me want a like button on this forum.

I was hoping the thread was going to be about mercenaries.

 

[Modified]

I don't see why you'd have to boil it. If it's been in pipes providing non-infective water, then the sediment wouldn't be introducing anything new, other than particulates. Better to just let it settle out - that's what sediment wants to do anyhow.

Yes, forget boiling it, it will still be full of crud and depending on what's in that sediment, you still don't want to drink it.

But shouldn't they have known this would happen and flushed the system close to the tower or something?

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

I don't see why you'd have to boil it. If it's been in pipes providing non-infective water, then the sediment wouldn't be introducing anything new, other than particulates. Better to just let it settle out - that's what sediment wants to do anyhow.

The better result of this story is for the rest of us, who don't live in failed communities, to get a good look at what we take for granted and pay a little more attention to our own local government. Good civics lesson.

"Yes, it can fall apart. No, you can't count on inertia and things just running along smoothly."

Anerobic bacteria lurking in and under the sludge. Once disturbed they need to be actively dealt with.

 

[Beerina]

Yes, forget boiling it, it will still be full of crud and depending on what's in that sediment, you still don't want to drink it.

But shouldn't they have known this would happen and flushed the system close to the tower or something?

Worse, boiling it could conceivably free up some congealed stuff in the sediment, releasing it back into the water on a chemical level.

 

[kookbreaker]

So who was pocketing the money made by deferring this maintenance?

 

[jimbob]

Town officials told residents to run their taps until the water turned clear, and then to boil it just in case. Firefighters around the town also opened fire hydrants to leak out as much of the sediment as possible. Ramirez told KSAT the water should be urinefine to drink as soon as today.

At least it was just a temporary situation.

That's how I first read your post

 

[jimbob]

Worse, boiling it could conceivably free up some congealed stuff in the sediment, releasing it back into the water on a chemical level.

Indeed.

 

[marplots]

Anerobic bacteria lurking in and under the sludge. Once disturbed they need to be actively dealt with.

Is there some reason why they wouldn't have been releasing spores and CFU's all this time?

I think I might buy a "dumping" mechanism that overwhelms residual chlorine that would otherwise take care of nominal amounts. Is that what you mean?

I'm still puzzled at what such anaerobes would have been eating all this time. Where does the sediment come from and what does it consist of? Is it soil that makes its way into the pipes through cracks? That too seems odd, if the pipes are pressurized.

 

[JoeB]

Where does the sediment come from and what does it consist of? Is it soil that makes its way into the pipes through cracks? That too seems odd, if the pipes are pressurized.

Apologies if I'm misremembering, read the story hours ago, but a couple decades of letting particulates and precipitates build up (30 years?) is plenty to build up plenty of various solids of many different types and origins. The issue reportedly wasn't system wide, it was just the bottom of the watertower had decades of sediment built up in it, so when they fully drained it into the water system...

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I don't see why you'd have to boil it. If it's been in pipes providing non-infective water, then the sediment wouldn't be introducing anything new, other than particulates. Better to just let it settle out - that's what sediment wants to do anyhow.

The better result of this story is for the rest of us, who don't live in failed communities, to get a good look at what we take for granted and pay a little more attention to our own local government. Good civics lesson.

"Yes, it can fall apart. No, you can't count on inertia and things just running along smoothly."

Actually with a high sediment load, chlorination is less effective.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Worse, boiling it could conceivably free up some congealed stuff in the sediment, releasing it back into the water on a chemical level.

Then you should filter it before boiling. You should probably filter it anyway.

 

[catsmate]

So who was pocketing the money made by deferring this maintenance?

I refer your to the arrests of, well, pretty much the entire local government of "The Spinach Capital of the World".
Though I don't see any investigation into this particular corruption as yet, perhaps when the people-trafficking, bribery, extortion and illegal gambling charges have been dealt with. The water supply neglect issues may be under the general malfeasance in public office charges; "used their official positions to enrich themselves by soliciting and accepting payments and other things of value".

Rather reminds me of Sandford's Deadline, though no-one has been murdered yet.

 

[Rincewind]

If I lived there, I guess my consumption of alcohol would rise...