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FOURTH QUARTER 2015 PG. 1
REPORT: IN CORPUS CHRISTI, THE LATEST WATER EMERGENCY WAS DIFFERENT
by Kiah Collier, The Texas Tribune www.texastribune.org .
A week ago when the city of Corpus Christi ordered its 320,000 residents to avoid tap water because of a potential industrial chemical leak, the first thought many of them had was, “Not again.”
It was the fourth time in 17 months the city had made such an announcement and, for residents, it was just another example of its failure to deliver the most basic and crucial of municipal services. With a total usage ban in place for much of the city for four days — it wasn’t just a boil-water notice this time — the impacts went far beyond a mild inconvenience, shuttering local school districts and water-dependent businesses and requiring residents to scrounge up bottled water and forego showering.
But the latest incident and its root cause are clearly different from the others, according to a municipal water systems expert and a former city mayor whom voters ousted last month amid ongoing water problems. While the signs suggest the most recent problem stemmed from inadequate industrial safeguards to prevent a chemical leak, they attribute the three previous water problems to a long-neglected water delivery system and operational complications created by a decrease in usage during a recent drought.
The city had put off replacing old cast-iron water pipes for some 40 years, said former Corpus Christi Mayor Nelda Martinez, who concedes the city’s persistent water issues were “a strong variable” in the outcome of her re-election bid last month. (They also inspired a city manager to resign.)
REPORT: IN CORPUS CHRISTI, THE LATEST WATER EMERGENCY WAS DIFFERENT
PAGE 1 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
PAGE 4
EVENTS THIS QUARTER PAGE 5
JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH SPEAKERS
PAGE 8
UPCOMING EVENTS PAGE 9 NEWSLETTER SPONSORS PAGE 12
LOCAL CONTACTS PAGE 16
MEETINGS AND EVENTS PAGE 17
SOUTH TEXAS CHAPTER e-newsletter
TAWWA/WEAT FIRST QUARTER 2017 ISSUE 109
Date: Thursday, May 19, 2017
Time: 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
Place: SAWS HQ Tower II,
2800 Stadium Dr, San Antonio
Contact: Josh Milks, [email protected]
Phone: 210-798-2303
Date: Friday, May 26, 2017
Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Place: Oak Hills Lane
7330 Callaghan Rd.,
San Antonio, TX 78229
Sign-up: [email protected]
RSVP By: Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Date: Friday, June 23, 2017
Time: 8:00 am
Place: SAWS HQ Tower II
2800 Stadium Dr, San Antonio
Contact: Josh Milks, [email protected]
Phone: 210-798-2303
Sign-up: http://www.tawwa.org/Event/SummerSeminar2017
Editor: Josh Milks ([email protected])
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Most of the 225 miles of cast-iron pipe installed beneath Corpus Christi between 1950 and 1959 need to be replaced, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
“A basic service is providing water to your citizens, and when that is compromised — I understand” why residents would respond the way they did, Martinez said, adding that the city executed more improvements to the system during her four years as mayor than it had in the previous 25 years. It clearly wasn’t enough, she acknowledged.
“If it takes you 40 years to get to this point, it’s going to take awhile to dig out of it," she said.
The city’s current mayor, Dan McQueen, who was sworn into office the day before the most recent water notice, declined an interview request through a city spokeswoman amid an ongoing state investigation into the incident. Local and state officials have zeroed in on a plant run by Mississippi-based Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions Inc., which leases its complex from a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation. (A local hair salon and other businesses that had to shut down during the water ban, which the city lifted Sunday, are suing the companies.)
Corpus Christi's myriad water woes aren't unique. Along with aging infrastructure — a challenge for many cities across the United States — municipal water utilities also can experience quality problems when they see a decline in usage, said Ben Hodges, the research director of the Center for Infrastructure Modeling and Management, a new, federally funded venture at the University of Texas at Austin that is studying ways to improve beleaguered municipal
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water systems. Such declines occur due to shrinking populations or usage restrictions, the latter of which Corpus Christi employed during the recent drought.
When water usage goes down, the amount of time it takes water to get from treatment plants to faucets can change and “dead zones” in the system can materialize. The goal is to ensure that water still contains some bacteria-killing chlorine — but not too much — by the time it reaches its destination.
Last year, the city lifted watering restrictions to help improve chlorine levels.
“It’s a balancing act,” said Hodges, noting that Corpus Christi’s three previous water emergencies were due to “a lack of chlorine residual" and involved bacterial contamination. (All prompted boil-water notices.)
“It’s not so much that anything new was introduced,” he said.
That’s the opposite case with the latest incident, in which an asphalt emulsifier reportedly escaped a mixing tank at Ergon's plant and potentially ended up in the water supply. That prompted the city to enact an all-out usage ban rather than a boil-water notice.
City officials initially said they discovered some amount of Indulin AA-86 in the city water system, although tests of several water samples collected from around the city have come back clean, according to information posted on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) website. More samples will be tested in the coming days.
The agency said during a press call Monday that some kind of chemical leak “absolutely” occurred.
“Duration, the quantity, where did it go — that's what's under investigation,” said TCEQ Executive Director Richard Hyde.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and at least two other state agencies have been involved in the investigation, including the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which is “assisting TCEQ in evaluating appropriate legal action,” according to a spokeswoman.
Ergon is cooperating fully and is glad the water is back on, said Bill Miller, a well-connected, Austin-based political consultant working as a spokesman for the company. He declined further comment. (Valero has blamed Ergon for the leak.)
Industrial plants are supposed to install equipment to prevent the "backflow" of chemicals and other hazardous materials into municipal water systems when pressure gets too high, said Hodges, of the Center for Infrastructure Modeling and Management. It’s a tall order for any city to prevent backflow totally, he said, noting it can occur even from residential lines if water pressure gets high enough.
“What happened in Corpus Christi has the potential to happen almost anywhere,” Hodges said, adding that it probably got even more attention because it came on the heels of so many other water-related issues in the city.
“As a practical matter, regulators can’t simply be looking over the shoulder of every industry with every move," he said.
At a city council meeting Tuesday night — the first since the incident — City Manager Margie Rose said she would expedite a review of a backflow prevention program that had been scheduled for early next year, noting there are "a lot" of non-compliant commercial and residential properties.
Martinez, the former mayor, said the city should be asked and willing to answer hard questions for accountability's sake as authorities work to figure out what exactly went wrong.
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"I would insist those questions be asked because that way they are able to show their accountability and ability to run a very complicated water distribution system," she said. "Who knew, when did they know and what could we have done differently?"
Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.
This article originally appeared December 21, 2016 in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/plus/water/vol-5/no-1/corpus-christi-latest-water-emergency-different-re/. The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
With summer approaching, we can look back at a great year of activities, events, and lunch meetings. We have had many educational events and covered a wide variety of topics. Participation at our events were high as it has been in the past. As we near officer elections for the local chapter of both AWWA and WEAT, we invite everyone to join our local chapters as officers or as committee members. Also, we are starting to shape up our activities and event schedule for the next year. Please let us know if you have any topics or issues that you would like us to focus on or include in our lineup for the next year. Our Summer Seminar brings out lots of great topics and good participation every year. We have a great line-up of speakers again this year, and participation is again expected to be high. As you already know, in addition to being a great educational event, the Summer Seminar is also a great way to meet and network with water/wastewater professionals in San Antonio, including consultants, vendors, contractors, and public employees. We thank, in advance, our sponsors and volunteers for assisting us put together this great event, our speakers for helping us make this a great educational event, and you for attending. Without your participation, this event would not be as successful as it has been year after year. Keep in mind that we have several networking and fundraising events, and community service projects periodically: Bowling events, Sporting Clays Tournament, Basura Bash, Summer Seminar, YP Forums, Water for People Golf Tournament, Scholarship Dinner, and YP Tours and Happy Hours. Our local WEAT/AWWA chapters count on your support, and are thankful for your participation in these events. Thank you for your involvement in our chapter activities. We wish everyone a great summer! Yours Truly, Mehmet Boz, PhD, PE President, WEAT – San Antonio Section
Monthly Meeting Registration
In May 2016, TAWWA/WEAT started using the online registration management system, Eventbrite. Eventbrite facilitates easier RSVPs for the monthly meetings and also will save your credit card information, so you can RSVP and pay with a few clicks! Cost of lunch will increase to $15 for private, remain at $5 for municipal or students, and attendees can use Eventbrite to pay in advance. Cost of lunch without RSVP will be $20 (private or municipal). Space for your attendance cannot be guaranteed without an RSVP. Register online to avoid the price increase.
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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality revised the TCEQ TAC Chapter 290, effective March 30, 2017, to incorporate the EPA Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR). For the official executive summary of the revisions, please refer to the TCEQ Interoffice Memorandum located at: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/assets/public/legal/rules/rule_lib/adoptions/15035290_aex.pdf
REGULATORY UPDATES THIS QUARTER
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On Saturday, February 18, 2017, San Antonio’s TAWWA/WEAT San Antonio Chapter Basura Bash was held as part of a 22 year-old annual city-wide clean up. The combined city-wide effort collected over 32.8 tons of trash, 1.14 tons of metal recycled, 84 tires recycled, and 2,504 lbs of electronics recycled! TAWWA/WEAT San Antonio Chapter also organizes an annual Fall Basura Bash that takes place tentatively in October. Members are encouraged to bring their family, friends, classmates and colleagues to enjoy a beautiful day in one of San Antonio’s parks. The Basura Bash is also a great way for you or your children and their classmates to receive volunteer hours! The San Antonio Chapter took home the “WEAT Trashiest Section” award at this year’s Texas Water 2017. Thanks to the Planning Committee and AECOM, the TAWWA/WEAT Spring Basura Bash Event Sponsor, for their support!
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The San Antonio Young Professionals got together on a cool windy morning on March 24, 2017 to tour the San Antonio Water System’s (SAWS) new Desalination Facility located in far south Bexar County at the site formerly known as SAWS Twin Oaks Aquifer Storage and Recovery. The SAWS Operator showed 24 YPs the elaborate treatment facility. The desalination plant adds yet another supply to the SAWS water portfolio, further reducing dependence on the drought-sensitive Edwards Aquifer.
TAWWA/WEAT YOUNG PROFESSIONALS MARCH PLANT TOUR
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SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR JANUARY SPEAKERS & SPONSOR Topic: San Antonio River Trash Booms Sponsor: Tetra Tech, Inc. Speaker: Wayne Tschirhart, P.E., and Nicole Koeninger, E.I.T. (SARA)
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR FEBRUARY SPEAKERS & SPONSOR
Topic: Envision Accredited Pipeline Projects Sponsor: KCI Technologies, Inc. Speakers: Mikel Wilkins, P.E., ISI Env-SP (Verdunity)
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR MARCH SPEAKERS & SPONSOR
Topic: Ethics Sponsor: Hartwell Environmental Corporation Speaker: Kathy Berek, P.E. (KCI Technologies)
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Water/Wastewater Treatment
Water Distribution Water Resources www.freese.com
Rules: Each column must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 and no two numbers in the same column can be the same. Each row must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 and no two numbers in the same row can be the same.
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806 Tradesmens Park Loop
Fax (512) 846-1163
Houston • Austin • Dallas
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In an attempt to better serve the Young Professional (YP) members, we are asking that all members under the age of 35, or less than 10 years in the industry, please e-mail Kendall NeSmith at: [email protected] with their name, e-mail, and phone number. If there are others in your offices who are not yet TAWWA or WEAT members, but might also be interested in participating in YP events and functions, please pass this request on to them!
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Local TAWWA/WEAT Contacts
TAWWA, South Texas Chapter Officers
Office Name Day phone E-Mail
President Rikki Anderson, P.E. 210-298-3841 [email protected]
Past President Vicente Garza, P.E. 210-233-3596 [email protected]
Vice President Jaime Kypuros, P.E. 210-299-7916 [email protected]
Secretary Ann Peche, P.E. 210-233-3891 [email protected]
Treasurer Mary Portillo, P.E. 210-308-4702 [email protected] Trustee Melissa Bryant, P.E. 210-302-3611 [email protected]
Deputy Trustee Greg Swoboda, P.E. 210-268-4207 [email protected]
Communications Chair Alissa Lockett, P.E. 210-233-3401 [email protected]
Finance Chair Andrew Hunt, P.E. 210-321-4353 [email protected]
Scholarships Chair Andrea Beymer, P.E. 210-233-3490 [email protected]
Water for People Chair Jonathan Vorheis, P.E. 210-321-6256 [email protected]
YP Representative Estella Cota, E.I.T. 210-298-3809 [email protected]
YP Representative Kendall NeSmith, P.E. 210-321-3417 [email protected]
WEAT, San Antonio Section Officers
Office Name Day phone E-Mail
President Mehmet Boz, P.E. 210-544-5744 [email protected]
Past President Heather Lindner, P.E. 210-841-2826 [email protected]
Vice President Ron Emmons, P.E. 210-698-0900 [email protected]
Secretary Josh Milks, E.I.T. 210-441-0160 [email protected]
Treasurer Amy Middleton, P.E. 210-302-3201 [email protected]
Section Representative David Bennett, P.E. 210-298-3829 [email protected]
Scholarship Chair Dennis Laskowski, P.E. 210-233-3682 [email protected]
YP Representative Lance Rothe, P.E. 210-841-2800 [email protected]
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2016 Meetings and Events
Date Event Event Host Location
May 19, 2017 May Monthly Meeting &
Officer Elections AWWA/WEAT SAWS HQ Tower II
May 26, 2017 Bowling Social AWWA/WEAT Oak Hills Lanes, 7330 Callaghan Rd.
June 23, 2017 Summer Seminar AWWA/WEAT SAWS HQ Tower II
June 23, 2017 Young Professional Happy Hour AWWA/WEAT TBD
August 25, 2017 Water for People Golf Tournament
AWWA/WEAT Canyon Springs Golf Club
Want to be taken off the email list or change your contact info?
Please e-mail Ann Peche at [email protected] or
Josh Milks at [email protected]
TAWWA and WEAT has an Education Division which has the objective to promote and encourage training, upgrading and certification of water plant operators, managers and other utility personnel; and to promote and encourage water education. The Division is dedicated to the promotion of water education through a proactive effort to support membership and consumer educational opportunities in Texas.
The TAWWA Education Division has 5 committees which are currently looking for active volunteers:
Competitions Consumer Outreach
Partnership Development
For more info, please visit TAWWA at: http://www.tawwa.org/?page=advocacy If you are interested in serving on any of these committees, please feel free to contact: • Katherine Tillison, [email protected], or
• Joshua Milks at [email protected]
