Posted on 08/31/2019 10:26:35 AM PDT by bgill
Our local water system is uncovered and comes under the “too small” to have it covered by federal regulations.
The bird poop question was answered with, we’ll just chlorinate.
The vandalism should be prosecuted though.
Cops would wait until just the right moment.....
I swam in ours. The metal tank was 30 feet deep and 160 feet across. Really hot in the air above the water, but the water was cool and fluoridated! Was fun to swim down and drink water. While a bit gross to think about, a few sweaty kids isn’t going to affect 5 million gallons. We added a lock to the chain so we could get in any time.. My dad eventually told someone at the water company, but the lock was still there years later. I expected if I got caught there would be some stern words and maybe a fine. Post 9/11, well, times have changed.
I missed the episode where they were arrested......
This is from howstuffworks-—
They do freeze. They just don’t normally freeze solid.
In the more extreme climates, like North Dakota, engineers incorporate heating systems into the tank design. Specifically, the central pipe that runs from ground level up into the bottom of the tank is called a riser. Water is pumped into the base of the riser and allowed to rise into the tank. Many tank risers are wrapped with heat tape, covered with insulation and capped by an aluminum jacket. In addition, a heating system may be installed in an adjacent building or into the valve pit underneath the riser. The heater introduces heated water or steam into the base of the riser. In either case, the heat rises into the tank to retard freezing.
Why don’t water towers freeze solid in the winter? | HowStuffWorks
https://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/water-tower-freeze.htm
Tough Winter Leaves Municipal Water Towers Frozen
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/04/14/tough-winter-leaves-municipal-water-towers-frozen/
It's a contamination issue: this antic could have very easily led to E. coli in a public water system, and a lot of people getting sick. At the least, this would result in a "do not use" situation while the system management flushed, disinfected and retested the system.
It's a basic lack of respect for others' property issue. It's a lack of parent-instilled discipline issue.
Water system facilities are a federally-protected critical infrastructure: any tampering or trespassing is a federal crime.
I worked for a State-level drinking water oversight agency. I have personal experience in helping a small water system deal with a water tower tampering issue, and the emergency response effort not just by the water system, but all levels of enforcement agencies up to and including the FBI. Even to the point of sending water samples for detailed testing to see if anything detectable was present. The water system management had to conduct more than a few flushes of the entire system (250,000 gallons in just the one water tower), and the entire customer base was in a "do not use for anything" situation for over a week. This led to the agency assisting with and enforcing the posting of the Federal warning signs on all water system facilities.
The water system should (and has an obligation to) press charges, and the Feds should indeed throw the book at them.
Who peed in the H2O?
You would faint dead away with private wells here.
“entire customer base was in a “do not use for anything” situation”
I’m guessing your tank was contaminated with something worse then teen spirit.
Designate the water for sidewalk cleaning
Yeah, but the water was for steam locomotives, not household use like drinking and bathing...
Drinking someone else’s bath water doesn’t exactly appeal to me...
Welcome to our ool!
Notice there’s no P in it.
Please keep it that way.
“Don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I’d want to drink water that a couple of teenage boys had bathed in.”
Especially if it has a blue tint.
I’m glad we don’t have those kinds of problems where I live.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3775691/posts
9 shot, teen arrested in football shooting
Uh, in order for them to get into the water the top has to be open. Just think of all the insects and bird poop in there already!
Geez, what a drama queen. Do you think this type of water storage is new?
Innocent foe the teens, yes. An idea for someone who wants to poison a water system maybe. If it’s so easy to access by a group of teens, imagine what someone with less than a fun swim on their minds can do.
Unfortunately, the parents of these delinquents would be the first to sue the city if one or all of them drowned .... and worse if one of the dead bodies got sucked down the drain and clogged the system up. Bet the city put the locks there for a purpose.
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