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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 9:29 am to RealityTiger
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:29 am to RealityTiger
quote:
Do you not feel that full criticism is warranted? Or do you think that everything is good the way it is?
I'm not a fan of the "oh they suck" criticism. As I truly believe the issues are much, much deeper than that.
Sure, some people need to be fired and replaced, and there is a lot of incompetence at the staff and manager levels.
But no one wants to discuss the fact that the system was neglected for decades and as such, underperforms to a major degree.
That's a billion dollar (if not more) problem. So... what are we going to do about that?
2
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:29 am to LSUFanHouston
I think we are past the point of all pumps needing to be replaced anyway.
There are a ton of articles on how a lot of these pumps are so old you can’t get parts for them anymore and are run on exotic power voltages that require a special generator to provide.
Whatever the cost of replacing them is can’t be much worse than the cost of maintaining them in this state.
There are a ton of articles on how a lot of these pumps are so old you can’t get parts for them anymore and are run on exotic power voltages that require a special generator to provide.
Whatever the cost of replacing them is can’t be much worse than the cost of maintaining them in this state.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:29 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
I can tell you they are not closed.
Well then frick.....the 17th Street canal was probably at full capacity with the lake being so high and thats what was restricting the water from leaving the city so slowly and why the drainage canals were overflowing.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:32 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:A good start would be to elect a competent mayor based on potential and performance, rather than skin color (or being a white apologist).
But no one wants to discuss the fact that the system was neglected for decades and as such, underperforms to a major degree.
That's a billion dollar (if not more) problem. So... what are we going to do about that?
This post was edited on 7/17/19 at 9:33 am
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:35 am to RealityTiger
If that is the first step then NOLA is permanently fricked.
Willy Nagin of the Chocolate City was probably the best mayor of the past 30 years. Let that sink in.
Willy Nagin of the Chocolate City was probably the best mayor of the past 30 years. Let that sink in.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:39 am to jordan21210
This was not, but last summer it happened almost every time it rained more than 1”
This post was edited on 7/17/19 at 9:40 am
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:40 am to teke184
Oh I agree. It's depressing. Guess what? Baton Rouge is right there with New Orleans too.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:42 am to LSUFanHouston
quote:
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.
Hahaha! Very good point
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:43 am to RealityTiger
quote:
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?
Believe it or not, there is a middle ground. To scapegoat the SWB 100% is ignorant. The flooding last week should mostly be blamed on a freak rain storm. Sure, the SWB has incompetence, and the city in general has infrastructure issues...but everyone knows that already. I don’t think it’s okay, but I don’t know how to fix it except to elect people who say they can...but saying you can and actually doing it are two different things.
Basically, I agree with everything LSUFanHouston has said in this thread. Also, I was defending them in that people were questioning the lightning strikes on the broad st pump station...I live not far from that specific pump and lost power due to lightning strikes. Not sure what’s so alarming about me stating a fact.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:50 am to jordan21210
quote:Bingo. Glad you see it.
I don’t know how to fix it except to elect people who say they can
quote:It's not alarming. It's just your position that confuses me. Whatever. Carry on and ignore what I asked.
Not sure what’s so alarming about me stating a fact.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:50 am to jordan21210
I actually don’t blame the S&WB for the water rising during the rain. It was a freak storm and I think almost anywhere would flood with the intensity and duration it possessed. However, the fact that the water was not immediately dropping once the rain subsided, and that it in fact kept rising in certain areas even hours after the storm, is unconscionable.
Regardless of who should have the responsibility of this piece or that piece of infrastructure, it should work. Having pumps that require hours to start in a city built below sea level that is essentially at the bottom of a bowl to protect against river flooding and storm surges should be unacceptable and indefensible.
Also, I’m not calling for the replacement of 30 or even 40 year old equipment, some of the equipment is closer to 100 years old that 50, and as another poster mentioned, requires custom made parts for repairs and upgrades.
Regardless of who should have the responsibility of this piece or that piece of infrastructure, it should work. Having pumps that require hours to start in a city built below sea level that is essentially at the bottom of a bowl to protect against river flooding and storm surges should be unacceptable and indefensible.
Also, I’m not calling for the replacement of 30 or even 40 year old equipment, some of the equipment is closer to 100 years old that 50, and as another poster mentioned, requires custom made parts for repairs and upgrades.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 9:55 am to RealityTiger
quote:
Bingo. Glad you see it.
I wasn’t living here for the last election, but intend to do my part in the future.
quote:
Carry on and ignore what I asked.
I provided an answer. Sorry it doesn’t line up with your opinion.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 10:03 am to MrLSU
Lol.
Nothing will be done.
Don’t dare criticize either, you racists. Just keep paying your taxes and STFU
Nothing will be done.
Don’t dare criticize either, you racists. Just keep paying your taxes and STFU
Posted on 7/17/19 at 10:04 am to LSUFanHouston
I've said this for quite a while, the S&WB/drainage system has the potential to bankrupt the city. I think its beyond repair at this point (at least for city government). However, that doesn't mean someone couldn't rein in the bloated utility.
Here is the recipe for the flooding on 7/10: clogged and neglected drainage system and pumps going offline for 2+ hours.
One obvious issue to address is cleaning and maintaining the drainage systems. The City claims to have five vacuum trucks, but there are two out of service at any time. The city has a contract with Compliance Environments (private company), which I believe adds another two trucks. The stated goal is to get to twelve trucks, by 2022 with use of state funds, to clean the catch basins every year. Any decent investigative reporter would monitor our current trucks and request logs to track service. There is no excuse for the city not to be constantly cleaning the drainage systems.
After the Wednesday floods and as Barry was moving toward the coast, the city claims they pulled 60 tons of debris from the drains. Its unacceptable that the city is reactive when it comes to management of drainage in the city.
The apathy in this city by the residents is truly amazing!
Here is the recipe for the flooding on 7/10: clogged and neglected drainage system and pumps going offline for 2+ hours.
One obvious issue to address is cleaning and maintaining the drainage systems. The City claims to have five vacuum trucks, but there are two out of service at any time. The city has a contract with Compliance Environments (private company), which I believe adds another two trucks. The stated goal is to get to twelve trucks, by 2022 with use of state funds, to clean the catch basins every year. Any decent investigative reporter would monitor our current trucks and request logs to track service. There is no excuse for the city not to be constantly cleaning the drainage systems.
After the Wednesday floods and as Barry was moving toward the coast, the city claims they pulled 60 tons of debris from the drains. Its unacceptable that the city is reactive when it comes to management of drainage in the city.
The apathy in this city by the residents is truly amazing!
Posted on 7/17/19 at 10:09 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
Also, I’m not calling for the replacement of 30 or even 40 year old equipment, some of the equipment is closer to 100 years old that 50, and as another poster mentioned, requires custom made parts for repairs and upgrades
It always sounds good to say these types of things, but who is going to pay for it?
From what I understand, these pumps are in the range of 500,000 gpm. They say they have 120, so let's assume that half of them needed to be replaced because of age, whatever.
I'll assume $1,000,000 for each pump motor combo. So we are already at $60M for materials.
Take a look at each canal. There's no room for expansions it looks like, so these will have to be built while keeping the existing ones stay in place.
I'd triple that original cost for installation with those constraints.
Then we have the power situation. Anyone who lives here knows not to rely on Entergy in a storm so each pump would need a generator to power it. It's about $500k per MW or so. I'd assume each of those pumps require 2 MW so add an additional $1-2M per pump for generation.
So my ballpark estimate is putting us at half a billion just on a napkin.
Oh and if the canals are overtopping that means they aren't deep enough.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 10:09 am to jordan21210
Joe Giarusso (sp?) was on WWL and said the council has an engineer who will issue a report on if the down pumps contributed to the flooding and if so how much. He also discussed making neighborhood specific data available to the public because of the different elevations and different pump capacity for different neighborhoods. Basically, he wants to give specific on how many inches the pumps in each area can handle.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 10:12 am to MrLSU
Every single management employee in the S&WB needs to be fired or reassigned to another department. They then need to conduct a forensic accounting of the budget over the last 20 years or so and prosecute if necessary anyone involved in financial improprieties. Otherwise nothing will change.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 10:23 am to NOLA Tiger
quote:
The City claims to have five vacuum trucks, but there are two out of service at any time. The city has a contract with Compliance Environments (private company), which I believe adds another two trucks. The stated goal is to get to twelve trucks, by 2022 with use of state funds, to clean the catch basins every year.
They need to be at 12 trucks tomorrow.
Either they need to borrow the money needed to buy the remaining ones, or find additional contractors who can provide them.
quote:
The apathy in this city by the residents is truly amazing!
The residents of the city don't understand what is needed and the urgency of it, so they don't demand it. And the government won't provide it if it's not demanded.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 10:28 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
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
This is an absurd statement. I'm not going to defend SWB or DPW, but this was an extreme rain event, not a "normal summer rain." But no major cities have failure's like New Orleans because no major cities are below sea level like New Orleans.
What I've heard is the pumps can remove 1" of water from the City in the first hour and 0.5" in subsequent hours, rainfall more intense than that leads to guaranteed flooding.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 10:29 am to OvertheDwayneBowe
quote:
It always sounds good to say these types of things, but who is going to pay for it?
If you remove fraud, graft, and general mis-spending over the last 100 years of New Orleans, they would be able to afford the new pumps several times over.
Let's not pretend they're efficient at spending the money they already get.
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