The city issued a boil water advisory for Lost Creek and some neighborhoods in Southwest Austin at 11 a.m. ‘Water use was exploding’Įven before the power went out at the Ullrich plant, big problems were already facing Austin’s water system. Ullrich accounts for about half of Austin Water’s capacity for treating the water that the utility’s three treatment plants pull in from Lake Austin and Lake Travis. The city has not yet conducted an after-action report, and hearings have only just begun on what actually happened.īut its impact was undeniable. It is still unclear the level of impact the power outage at Ullrich Water Treatment Plant had on the overall water system. “The outage compounded an already difficult situation of keeping up with leaks and system demand that ultimately depressurized the water system,” Coronado said. So when the power went out, there was little water left in reserve to keep the system pressurized enough to push water out of faucets, bathtubs and spigots. It was “literally a perfect storm,” Austin Water’s assistant director of operations, Rick Coronado, said in an interview with the American-Statesman.īroken water mains and pipes rapidly began depleting the Austin’s reserve water stored in massive reservoirs even before the outage. Yet the icy conditions revealed that Ullrich Water Treatment Plant’s dual redundancies - backup power and backup water storage - were unreliable when faced with weather conditions during the winter storm. Ullrich had a second emergency power source and enough water storage to provide 100 gallons to each customer in case of a power outage. In the weeklong winter storm, the loss of power at Ullrich represents an inflection point when the city’s power crisis became a water supply crisis. The failure of dual redundancies at Ullrich helped trigger a citywide boil water notice and contributed to widespread loss of water pressure that included forcing the evacuation of many patients from St. During that time, water drained rapidly from the city’s water reserves, bled by thousands of burst pipes and dozens of broken water mains. The outage resulted in the plant operating below capacity for more than 10 hours, according to Austin Water. More:Blame game pushes into second day as Texas lawmakers examine devastating power outages
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17, backups should have snapped into place to keep power running and water production churning.īut there was a problem: Nobody on site knew how to operate a 52-year-old gear switch that would have restored power to the plant.Īnd so Ullrich Water Treatment Plant went dark for three hours in the middle of the worst winter storm to strike Central Texas in decades. It cut off roughly half of the city’s potable water production and deepened the winter weather crisis that at that moment had thousands shivering without electricity in their homes. So when a tree limb fell on an electric line leading to a substation that powered Austin’s largest water treatment plant on Feb. State regulations require the plant to either have access to a backup power source or a substantial amount of water reserves in case the plant sees an unexpected shutdown. Several inches of snow along with a glaze of freezing rain are possible, and a winter storm warning is in effect through noon Thursday.On a normal day, Ullrich Water Treatment Plant produces roughly half of Austin’s drinkable water and is crucial to keeping the city’s water system functioning. Shreveport, La.: Lows around 20 tonight with temperatures flirting with freezing Wednesday.Accumulations of 3 to 5 inches possible, and a winter storm warning is in effect until noon Thursday. Little Rock: Snow late overnight becoming moderate Wednesday and winding down overnight into Thursday.A winter storm warning is in effect until 6 p.m. Accumulations of 4 to 7 inches are expected. Oklahoma City: Snow, moderate to heavy at times, overnight, with snow showers lingering Wednesday morning.Temperatures warm into the lower 40s Wednesday, with ordinary rain and some melting. An ice storm warning is in effect through 6 a.m.
Houston: Freezing rain likely late, with light glazing possible on untreated surfaces.Lows around 20 tonight, with precipitation tapering off Wednesday morning. Ice accretions of 0.1 to 0.2 inches are expected and a winter storm warning is in effect through 6 a.m. Austin: Freezing rain and a wintry mix with a dash of sleet after midnight.
Accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are expected and a winter storm warning is in effect. with freezing rain and a wintry mix possible during the day Wednesday. Dallas: Temperatures in the teens Tuesday night with snow arriving before midnight, becoming moderate at times into early Wednesday morning.