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Old 12-28-2010, 11:19 AM
 
31 posts, read 63,761 times
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I've read some information about the new water treatment facility being built off of Bullick and 2222. What are your thoughts on the project and how it will impact the communities around it? Noise, congestion during construction, impact on environment, home values of Riverplace,Steiner and others near it?
I'd love to get some feedback. Thanks!
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Old 12-28-2010, 02:08 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
12,059 posts, read 13,880,864 times
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If you've driven by it, so far they've only put up electrical poles, but they are the largest electrical poles I've ever seen. They also bulldozed the old dive shop on 620 and bulldozed a couple of fields. Every indication leads me to believe that the whole project will be an immense eyesore, I just can't see how they can make that area look nice in any way with what they're doing.
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Old 12-28-2010, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
12,059 posts, read 13,880,864 times
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By the way, there hasn't seemed to be any impact to traffic, other than a few trucks putting mud onto the road in front of the area and some minor delays when they were reconfiguring the electrical lines. But the whole project cannot be good for the area at all. I haven't noticed any noise, but I'm not generally outside in the immediate vicinity.

I suggest going to Boathouse Grill and eating outside during the day sometime and commenting on how bad the noise levels are - Boathouse Grill is right next to the worst of the construction. I think that restaurant will be most negatively affected, although I'm sure it gets extra workers at its restaurant during lunchtime so maybe it'll be a toss-up for them.
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Old 12-28-2010, 07:30 PM
 
Location: Austin, Tx
316 posts, read 877,020 times
Reputation: 201
Austin water utility is losing $50 M a year. And now WTP4 means our water bills will have incremental increases into perpetuity.

The city officials (mayor, his 3 cronies on the council, city manager, asst city manager, Water Utility director) have colluded to pull this scam on Austin. They steamrolled vehement opposition from concerned citizens and activist groups.

This project is wasteful, and is a disaster for the environment and our pocketbooks.

Investing in a Rainwater collection system seems a very attractive proposition just now.
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Old 12-28-2010, 07:58 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
12,059 posts, read 13,880,864 times
Reputation: 7257
Quote:
Originally Posted by pjoseph2 View Post
Austin water utility is losing $50 M a year. And now WTP4 means our water bills will have incremental increases into perpetuity.

The city officials (mayor, his 3 cronies on the council, city manager, asst city manager, Water Utility director) have colluded to pull this scam on Austin. They steamrolled vehement opposition from concerned citizens and activist groups.

This project is wasteful, and is a disaster for the environment and our pocketbooks.

Investing in a Rainwater collection system seems a very attractive proposition just now.
That's why they call it the $1 billion mistake on the lake.
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Old 12-29-2010, 09:47 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 49,046,364 times
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I think this new water treatment plant is a good thing for the community of Austin. You can find a lot of this information your self here, City of Austin - Water Treatment Plant 4 but I would like to highlight some of it.

Water Treatment Plant 4, will ensure that we have an adequate supply of clean water for years to come. "Growth projections for the City of Austin predict that the population will increase by 500,000 people by the year 2040". With the closure of the antiquated Green Water Treatment Plant downtown last year, the community currently has only TWO functioning water treatment plants in operation. Many would consider them antiquated as well.

Quote:
Davis, built in 1954 and Ullrich, built in 1969. While the Davis and Ulrich treatment plants can handle Austin’s current water needs, the system needs another plant to ensure reliability. Lake Austin is the water supply for both Davis and Ullrich water treatment plants. WTP4 will draw water from Lake Travis, providing another water supply for the City.

The system needs another plant to ensure reliability. Lake Austin is the water supply for both Davis and Ullrich water treatment plants. WTP4 will draw water from Lake Travis, providing another water supply for the City.
The existing water treatment plants are so well screened and landscaped, most people don't even notice they are there when they drive by them. This new one is planned to have a similar treatment. It will probably be a better addition to the neighborhood then more strip shopping centers or apartments would be.

Quote:
Energy Savings
WTP4 will draw water from Lake Travis rather than Lake Austin. The higher elevation of Lake Travis means the utility will rely mostly on gravity to distribute the water, not electric pumps. This translates into energy savings of 20,000 megawatt hours annually, enough to provide electricity to more than 2,000 homes for a year.
This project is a huge boon to the local economy during these difficult economic times. During construction it is estimated it will create approximately 2,500 jobs and $350 million will be paid in wages.

The construction Manager is obligated by contract to:

1. Achieve or surpass the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEEDTM Silver rating for the facility.

2. Implementing a bid package approach that targets experienced local firms that are capable of constructing components of the project.

3. Providing off site parking and busing of construction workers to reduce construction-related traffic.

Fiscal impact: analysis shows that the total average residential bill impact for WTP 4 at the end of seven years (2010 – 2016) is estimated to be $3.52 per month, or $42.24 per account per year.

If you need more information about the plant you can write request it at: info@wtpfour.com

Site photograph http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/wtp4/images/hm1.jpg

Green Building conceptual drawing: http://www.wtp4opportunities.com/conceptual%20rendering.jpg (broken link)
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Old 12-29-2010, 10:02 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
12,059 posts, read 13,880,864 times
Reputation: 7257
Quote:
Originally Posted by CptnRn View Post
I think this new water treatment plant is a good thing for the community of Austin. You can find a lot of this information your self here, City of Austin - Water Treatment Plant 4 but I would like to highlight some of it.

Water Treatment Plant 4, will ensure that we have an adequate supply of clean water for years to come. "Growth projections for the City of Austin predict that the population will increase by 500,000 people by the year 2040". With the closure of the antiquated Green Water Treatment Plant downtown last year, the community currently has only TWO functioning water treatment plants in operation. Many would consider them antiquated as well.



The existing water treatment plants are so well screened and landscaped, most people don't even notice they are there when they drive by them. This new one is planned to have a similar treatment. It will probably be a better addition to the neighborhood then more strip shopping centers or apartments would be.



This project is a huge boon to the local economy during these difficult economic times. During construction it is estimated it will create approximately 2,500 jobs and $350 million will be paid in wages.

The construction Manager is obligated by contract to:

1. Achieve or surpass the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEEDTM Silver rating for the facility.

2. Implementing a bid package approach that targets experienced local firms that are capable of constructing components of the project.

3. Providing off site parking and busing of construction workers to reduce construction-related traffic.

Fiscal impact: analysis shows that the total average residential bill impact for WTP 4 at the end of seven years (2010 – 2016) is estimated to be $3.52 per month, or $42.24 per account per year.

If you need more information about the plant you can write request it at: info@wtpfour.com

Site photograph http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/wtp4/images/hm1.jpg

Green Building conceptual drawing: http://www.wtp4opportunities.com/conceptual%20rendering.jpg (broken link)

It's obvious you have a stake in this project so are not neutral. Can you tell me how they will hide those 200 feet high telephone poles that have gone up? The area is a total eyesore right now.

I would much prefer that the city institute mandatory conservation mandates than to build such a costly facility. Also, what are you going to do when the Lake Travis water levels are low like in 2009?
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Old 12-29-2010, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 49,046,364 times
Reputation: 9478
No, I don't have any stake in the project. None what so ever. All of the information above is readily available on the City website. I am an architect who has worked in this community for 33 years and am interested in seeing it grow and succeed. I am all for conservation, but there is absolutely no way that mandatory conservation mandates will ever be able to keep up with the growth projections for this city. All that approach will do is ensure we have water shortages in the future. Low lake levels such as in 2009 will not be a problem. The only reason we have had shortages in the past is from lack of treatment capacity, not lack of water.
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Old 12-29-2010, 10:23 AM
 
Location: 78747
3,202 posts, read 6,016,857 times
Reputation: 915
I'll agree with Ron. The only way to mandate tighter water usage is to required everyone in Austin to get rain-barrels, and rip out their St. Augustine, and even then, we would need something else to handle the 500,000 people projected to move here. The only other options would be to create another "Lake Travis" further down the Colorado, or build a desalinization plant in Matagorda Bay, then pipe it 200 miles back uphill to Austin. If you thought WTP4 was expensive...those other options could easily cost a billion dollars.
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Old 12-29-2010, 11:33 AM
 
Location: Austin, Tx
316 posts, read 877,020 times
Reputation: 201
Demand is nowhere near capacity. Even during peak demand. The city provided stats are misleading.

If Austin Water Utility (AWU) was a public entity, would you invest in it?

The city and AWU have flouted every rule that they carefully crafted for citizens. Please review the city council meeting archives (videos) for a more complete picture. AWU's director is incapable of doing mental math that my second grader can. And yes, they got a $300 M blank check for that.

City subsidized water rates are not sustainable. We have reached breaking point.
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