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Started By
Message
re: S&WB: Several pumps went offline due to electric issues during July 10 storm
Posted on 7/17/19 at 8:51 am to LSUFanHouston
Posted on 7/17/19 at 8:51 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
Right now, all of the street drains are under the jurisdiction of the city dept of public works. However, once the water enters the drainage systems, it is the responsibility of the S&WB to pump it through their system and out into the lake.
Houston, this is not completely accurate. Before you get riled up, we mostly agree, I just wanted to clarify some things.
S&WB actually controls drain pipe 36” and larger. Public works controls 30” and smaller. Do not ask me why, but this is the way it works in NO.
My main point is that the city has duplicate positions (HR, acct., project mgrs., inspectors, engineers, directors, etc.) between the PW Office and the S&WB. There is absolutely no reason to have two organizations running the infrastructure for the city.
1
Posted on 7/17/19 at 8:53 am to GeeOH
This was outside the SWB office on Joseph St before Barry...
Then after the shite hit the fan...
quote:
Jeff Adelson ? @jadelson · Jul 13, 2019 The city: We won’t be providing sandbags to residents because they could mess with S&WB’s drainage system S&WB:
Then after the shite hit the fan...
quote:
“We use sandbags there as an extra precaution because we have sensitive equipment in the basement,” she quoted the Board as saying. “Residents can go get sandbags as well. Nobody is saying don’t use sandbags. You can use them, but the city is not distributing them.”
This post was edited on 7/17/19 at 8:55 am
Posted on 7/17/19 at 8:56 am to tgrbaitn08
quote:
I would also like to hear how the Jefferson Ave drainage project is supposed to make drainage better for this area? It seems to have made it worse.
My friend lives on Jefferson. His house got about 6” of water last week. The area north of Freret looked like a lake. Something is fricked up if a new canal that is several times the size of the 100yr old original yet the drainage is significantly worse.
“The strikes took two of the pumps offline while operators were preparing to turn on more pumps to keep up with the rainfall, meaning that even as two pumps shut down, others were being turned on, Korban said. Another strike briefly shut down another pump at the station later, he said.”
Ohh, that’s how the area flooded. If pumps went offline and others were being prepared, that means there were no operating pumps for a period of time.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 8:58 am to MrLSU
So we know the pumps can only handle 1 inch an hour which is clearly not good enough, so what are we going to do about it, instead of just using that as an excuse every time this happens. Can we make these pumps handle more inches per hour, what’s gotta be done to do that, because it clearly needs to be done.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:00 am to ScaryClown
quote:
So we know the pumps can only handle 1 inch an hour which is clearly not good enough, so what are we going to do about it, instead of just using that as an excuse every time this happens. Can we make these pumps handle more inches per hour, what’s gotta be done to do that, because it clearly needs to be done.
Like I said...i dont think its just the pumps....personally I think it has more to do with drainage.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:00 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
I find it laughable that you defend the SWB.
I don't think I am defending them. I think it should be clear that you don't turn around decades of incompetence overnight. I do like the new Exec Dir, but there is so much toxic crap below him in the system.
quote:
They were literally given billions of dollars after Katrina to revamp, update, and essentially redo their pumping infrastructure. Instead they just repaired their pre 1930’s technology, didn’t update any of the power systems, and relaxes none of the pumps.
This isn't really true. They were given lots of money to update water systems and fix water pipes. Which they are doing (just drive around the city and see all the torn up streets where they are working).
Pretty much all of the drainage improvements are under and funded via the SELA initative which has been around since the late 90s.
quote:
It needs to be taken out of the hands of public officials and run by competing private entities.
What major American cities have a privitized drainage system?
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:00 am to ScaryClown
They could have, but the squandered the money gifted to them by the fed gov and now the city is up a creek with no paddle
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:02 am to LSUFanHouston
What major cities have such a major failure every time even a normal summer rain happens?
I’m not suggesting this is a normal or common solution. I’m saying take an extreme solution
I’m not suggesting this is a normal or common solution. I’m saying take an extreme solution
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:04 am to tgrbaitn08
quote:
Once it stopped raining the water around my house continued to rise 3"-4" more inches as the water was moving tworards the Broad St pumping station...this went on for about 2 hours after it has stopped raining
Then, the water stopped moving and stopped rising for about an hour....then water started moving in the opposite direction once that started then the water finally started dropping.
Why? That has never happened
I know the pump system is interconnected and involves moving water around from one area to the next until it leaves for the lake. Not every drain connects to a pump station that pumps directly to lake. Maybe it should be like this, but it's not.
quote:
I would also like to hear how the Jefferson Ave drainage project is supposed to make drainage better for this area? It seems to have made it worse.
Is that fully operational now?
quote:
I would also like to hear why the drainage canal from the Broad St station all the way to Palmetto and S Carrollton was over flowing..that tells me that the 17st canal was full or something was restricting the water from moving out of the canals.
Very possible. Also possible that water entered the canals faster than it could be pumped out. Which tells me that the pump capacity was exceeded (whether by simply too much water, or because of underutilized pumps)
quote:
Why wasnt the pumps at the outfall canal pumping the water out of the 17th Street Canal into the Lake to allow for more water to be pumped into the canal??
My understanding of those pumps is they are Corps-run, and will only be run if the gates are closed. On more than one occasion, they have said they will not run them for regular drainage events.
I think that's asinine, but that's more about the Corps than the S&WB.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:05 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
normal summer rain happens?
That was not a normal summer rain. Wish people would stop acting like it was.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:08 am to tgrbaitn08
quote:
thats why I think it's more to do with drainage than it is with the pumps.
there are some serious drainage issues.....the pumps can pump their asses off, but the water cant move if the drains are clogged up with water or debris
During Barry, WWL-TV had a reporter that has been following all of the S&WB stories. He said, and I remember, that after the storms a couple of years ago, the city executed an emergency contract to suck out and clean all the catch basis using powerful, bought new suction trucks etc.
Since then, almost two years... the city has been able to clean approximately 40% of the basins.
So basically at that ramped up speed, they are cleaning them once every 5 years.
That is simply unacceptable. And it doesn't even address problems with broken/cracked pipes. Considering how many water pipes leak, I'm sure many of the subsurface drainage transit pipes leak as well.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:11 am to GeeOH
quote:
Dont you think this in itself is a fundamental breakdown?
Oh, absolutely. No doubt.
Houston has transtar, Houston has fully automated gages in their bayous, rivers, and canals. NOLA has a mostly pathetic DOTD system at the end of Veterans that has about 10 percent of the capability of Transtar, and we have no ability to monitor anything water-related via a central system.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:14 am to Screaming Viking
quote:
S&WB actually controls drain pipe 36” and larger. Public works controls 30” and smaller. Do not ask me why, but this is the way it works in NO.
Thanks for the knowledge, but that kinda furthers my point. All of this should be under one umbrella.
quote:
My main point is that the city has duplicate positions (HR, acct., project mgrs., inspectors, engineers, directors, etc.) between the PW Office and the S&WB. There is absolutely no reason to have two organizations running the infrastructure for the city.
While I understand the redundancy issue (waste of resources), I don't know if the city could handle all of that alone. Which is why i'm kinda ok with keeping water treatment, distribution, and sewerage seperately, while merging drainage functions.
But, I would not be opposed to just combining everything directly under the city. That can't be any worse than what we have now.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:15 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
Houston has transtar, Houston has fully automated gages in their bayous, rivers, and canals. NOLA has a mostly pathetic DOTD system at the end of Veterans that has about 10 percent of the capability of Transtar, and we have no ability to monitor anything water-related via a central system.
Houston wasnt the direct issue. The rigs use satellite. Its simple
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:17 am to pjab
quote:
If pumps went offline and others were being prepared, that means there were no operating pumps for a period of time.
This doesn't get enough attention.
Rain starts, heavy arse rain.
Now, we have to "prepare" the pumps to come on.
That takes time. If the rain is hard enough, the system will never catch up from the lag in starting time, until the rain stops (or at least the rate significantly reduces).
It's a massive bottleneck in the system. Obviously it needs to be fixed, but that means replacing all the pumps
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:17 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
Is that fully operational now?
Well they have planted trees on the neutral ground so I assume it is
quote:
My understanding of those pumps is they are Corps-run, and will only be run if the gates are closed. On more than one occasion, they have said they will not run them for regular drainage events.
I think that's asinine, but that's more about the Corps than the S&WB.
With the spillway being open and the Lake is as high as it is, wouldnt those gates be closed?
quote:
they have said they will not run them for regular drainage events.
That needs to be addressed...
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:23 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
During Barry, WWL-TV had a reporter that has been following all of the S&WB stories. He said, and I remember, that after the storms a couple of years ago, the city executed an emergency contract to suck out and clean all the catch basis using powerful, bought new suction trucks etc.
Since then, almost two years... the city has been able to clean approximately 40% of the basins.
So basically at that ramped up speed, they are cleaning them once every 5 years.
That is simply unacceptable. And it doesn't even address problems with broken/cracked pipes. Considering how many water pipes leak, I'm sure many of the subsurface drainage transit pipes leak as well.
im not talking about catch basins....im talking about drainage pipes underground
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:24 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
I’m not suggesting this is a normal or common solution. I’m saying take an extreme solution
Right, but I'm just wondering what companies can even do that.
Water and sewer, there are tons of companies doing that and maybe not on the scale of NOLA, but I'm sure they could scale up to handle it.
Privatization MAY be the answer but it's not always guaranteed to be the answer. Of course, someone has to be first. My worry though is given the corruption history of this city, the contract will just go to someone's brother in law.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:24 am to jordan21210
What exactly is your position here? You say that you're not defending S&WB and actions that have happened, yet you are defending in a passive way. You're talking out of both sides of your mouth.
Do you not feel that full criticism is warranted? Or do you think that everything is good the way it is?
Do you not feel that full criticism is warranted? Or do you think that everything is good the way it is?
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:26 am to tgrbaitn08
quote:
With the spillway being open and the Lake is as high as it is, wouldnt those gates be closed?
I can tell you they are not closed.
quote:
That needs to be addressed...
Yup.
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