Water Smell (Austin, Howe: live, moving, design)

[LandAndSea]

This morning a very strong chemical odor was in the water and the city says it was caused by zebra mussels accumulating in pipes. Something smells funny about that explanation.



Can someone explain how this smell was triggered overnight? The mussels have been there for some time. This is the second major water incident for Austin.



I can't shower as my hands already stink from washing them. Having trouble drinking the water even though I added some iced tea to it.


They say "24 hours" the smell should go away. I need to take a shower tomorrow. I also need to wash my clothes on Saturday.


They had ONE job - provide clean water to the city.

[Trainwreck20]

Remember back in 2004 or so when they wanted to fund/build a state-of-the art water treatment plant, but the voters thought it was too expensive? Yeaaaah. This is where you end up. The cheaper version. But sure, lets blame it on the water treatment people.

[LandAndSea]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Remember back in 2004 or so when they wanted to fund/build a state-of-the art water treatment plant, but the voters thought it was too expensive? Yeaaaah. This is where you end up. The cheaper version. But sure, lets blame it on the water treatment people.

I arrived in 2007. However, I wonder if a new plant would have avoided this problem. I certainly vote for a new one.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Remember back in 2004 or so when they wanted to fund/build a state-of-the art water treatment plant, but the voters thought it was too expensive? Yeaaaah. This is where you end up. The cheaper version. But sure, lets blame it on the water treatment people.

Not really: City of Austin: Zebra mussels to blame for downtown's smelly water

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by LandAndSea

This morning a very strong chemical odor was in the water and the city says it was caused by zebra mussels accumulating in pipes. Something smells funny about that explanation.



Can someone explain how this smell was triggered overnight? The mussels have been there for some time. This is the second major water incident for Austin.



I can't shower as my hands already stink from washing them. Having trouble drinking the water even though I added some iced tea to it.


They say "24 hours" the smell should go away. I need to take a shower tomorrow. I also need to wash my clothes on Saturday.


They had ONE job - provide clean water to the city.

the bad smell is a swampy smell due to zebra mussels. They are counteracting it by adding extra chlorine and powered activated charcoal.

Periodically each year the water gets swampy when it is hot and we get algae blooms in the reservoir. We use reverse osmosis to avoid this.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Not really: City of Austin: Zebra mussels to blame for downtown's smelly water

The 'big' plan back then was to make a larger, very modern plant that would replace the Ullrich plant, which is the oldest, iirc. To be fair, it might be a better plan to have built the more economical version rather than the more expensive, and then just deal with this issues, which are really minor in the big picture.

[cBach]

Steiner invested in a new modern treatment facility so we never had the issues back in October and also not now. Infrastructure pays!

Some tips about foul smelling water (I lived in New Orleans where they got water from the MS River which got rather swampy in the summer).

Place water in a large jug and add slices of cucumbers and lemons in it. Let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. The water will be great for drinking.

Switch to bubble baths instead of taking showers. The bubbles have a nice scent and will mask the mussel smell. Besides it's 34F degrees outside, nice time for a hot bath.

Cook seafood tonight. Maybe moules/frites (mussels and fries)? You already have mussel stock, lol! The mussel stock of the water would probably be good for a seafood gumbo as well, bouillabaisse, or bisque.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The 'big' plan back then was to make a larger, very modern plant that would replace the Ullrich plant, which is the oldest, iirc. To be fair, it might be a better plan to have built the more economical version rather than the more expensive, and then just deal with this issues, which are really minor in the big picture.

I don't know what having a different water facility has to do with an invasion of zebra mussels. They are a non-native species that is sucking up the water and smelling it up. If we can control the zebra mussels the smell will go away.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

I don't know what having a different water facility has to do with an invasion of zebra mussels. They are a non-native species that is sucking up the water and smelling it up. If we can control the zebra mussels the smell will go away.

A 'fancier' treatment plant would have likely been able to deal with it better - keeping them out, or removing them on a regular basis. The alternate design would have definitely been able to handle the turbidity in October, I am not sure on the mussels; however, I bet it could have. The great lakes area has been dealing with them for decades and manage to treat their water. They have been in Travis for much longer than they officially admit to.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

I don't know what having a different water facility has to do with an invasion of zebra mussels. They are a non-native species that is sucking up the water and smelling it up. If we can control the zebra mussels the smell will go away.

Zebra mussels are an invasive species, almost impossible to get rid of.