Posted on 02/21/2013 10:35:50 PM PST by BenLurkin
Authorities say a test of a Los Angeles hotel water tank where a Canadian tourist’s body was found this week didn’t find any live bacteria that would cause illness.
The test was conducted Tuesday after 21-year-old Elisa Lam was found wedged into one of four water cisterns atop the downtown Cecil Hotel.
The county Department of Public Health has, however, issued a do-not-drink order, and only water for toilets is flowing for hotel guests.
County health official Angelo Bellomo says chlorine in the water likely killed any bacteria in the tank where Lam’s body was found.
(Excerpt) Read more at losangeles.cbslocal.com ...
We find no human remains that exceed the USDA regulated levels.
Now, if it had been two bodies, that would of been a different matter!
One of LA's finest no doubt.
looks like something out of a 1930’s crime noir novel...
or a square grain elevator
I didn’t find a wiki page for this historic edifice
but I found this:
“I wish i would of read the reviews first. It is horrible! Unsafe! No Parking!!! I entered the lobby, it looked pretty nice, we checked in and in the elevator we go, The elevator can only hold up to 5 people, if you had more than 5 you had to wait. We went up, the hallways smelled TERRIBLE! The reason for the smell is because across the rooms there are bathrooms and showers,YOU DONT GET YOUR OWN! There was also holes in the showers. Wasn’t pleasent but we entered our room and guess what,dust,stains,small,cramped,NO AC and so many more problems! If you wanted a fan you would have to pay extra per night! The doors were so weak that you could hit it open if it was locked! NOT SAFE! There was only 1 small bed for a family of 5! We went down to the lobby and asked why there was one small bed for our family they replied “ Its for 2 people sorry” When we booked we put 5 and told them to look it up and it said for 5 she didnt have anything to say but we can switch you to two TWIN beds but still it wouldnt be enough space so we wanted to leave to a different hotel. we wanted to know if there was wifi but it was near the stairs not in the bedroom. She charged us $80 and we didnt spend the night!! Refused to give money back! Dangerous at night lot of achoaol, cocainne and ghetto area! We went to the Wilshire hotel, it is a wonderful hotel with friendly staff and a lot of hotel remedies!! DO NOT RECOMMEND THE CECIL HOTEL!!!!!!!! “
This is a flophouse, not the Holiday Inn
I imagine that having to spend a few days alone in one of those rooms with an airshaft view would be enough to drive anyone nuts.
I was on a site last week when this gal’s sister posted a plea about her missing sister. She said the sister was in LA and had never missed a day of calling home, so she asked everyone to be on the lookout for her. Sad.
That building looks like it’s forming up for a Conga Line...
I thought the building kind of looks like Cabrini Green public housing.
I posted a comment on this story but didn’t get a response. .... I’m trying to understand a technical issue with this story because something seems a bit weird beyond the finding of a body in a water tank. I’ve worked in a wide range of commercial office buildings and number of large hotels and on many occasions, had to go on to the roof of many of them to do some work on cooling towers or other components of HVAC systems. Admittedly, I don’t work on the water systems and none of my experiences involved Los Angeles. However, I don’t ever remember being on a roof that had an accessible tank that was used for potable water… never. For one thing, uncontrolled pollutants and insects could access it, in cold climes it would freeze and in warm climes it would get warm. There would be huge risks of legionnaire’s disease and moulds forming depending on the temperature etc etc. Yes, there needs to be a means of regulating building water pressures and flows…. But do they really do this for potable water through the use of tanks that are accessible? I would have thought that a sealed tank would have been used, no? If a Freeper here has some experience in this area, I would greatly appreciate being enlightened……
It looks like a NY ghetto tenement house from the 30’s
I’m a building engineer.
Every large tank must have an opening large enough for a man. The openings are seldom if ever locked so it’s no surprise that something like this happened.
Yes, in most places the tanks are indoors or in a heated roof enclosure to prevent freezing. But this was LA and it can’t get cold enough there to freeze a large tank. Exposed tanks are fairly common in such climates.
And yes, in most cases potable water should not be stagnant at room-temperature while exposed to air. The only exception is a large tank. I would guess because it has its own natural internal circulation, is sealed from sunlight, and a relatively small percentage of the water is exposed to air. It would take a LONG time for a big tank to go bad. Also remember that the water is constantly being used and slowly replaced.
Thanks for the reply. I really am going to have to pay more attention the next time that I’m on a roof somewhere and will make a point of asking about the water supply design…..so far, this seems to tell me that I’m simply not as observant as I thought I was. I live in the country and thus not on city services…. I have my own well and septic system. My pressure tank for the house is about 50 gallons in size and it has an internal bladder that stretches in response to the water pressure settings on the incoming line. I would have assumed that this sort of approach (sealed pressure tanks with internal bladders) would be used in high rise buildings as well but from what you’re saying, I guess not. Actually, the size of the tanks on the roof of the hotel in question makes me wonder how well thought through this is from a structural perspective. Are you saying it is relatively common to use accessible tanks like what they have on the roof of this hotel? With more modern buildings, do they not go without tanks at all (or just small tanks) but just use pumps at strategic elevation points that are controlled by variable frequency drives to respond to the building pressure requirements?
A chance to ask some questions that I have been wondering about!
1. Why are water tanks on older buildings frequently made of wood? Why weren't all these wood tanks changed out years ago?
2. Why do these wood tanks often look as if they were added to the building as an afterthought?
In my hometown, some kids climbed into a city water tower and took a swim. Not only did they get in big trouble, the water department had to do something (I forget what) to “treat” the water for contamination.
Look here:
Looks like there are hatches on the tanks.
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