KUT
People line up to have containers filled with drinking water at St. Elmo Brewing Company in South Austin. Breweries throughout the city distributed water to residents when many didn t have running water and the area was under a boil-water notice after the winter storm.
While Austin Water was telling the public not to worry about the water system during last month s winter storm, the city s water supply had begun falling to half its normal level, according to department employees.
The department admitted Wednesday that it waited to ask people to conserve water, even as the city s water supply dwindled.
On a normal day, Ullrich Water Treatment Plant produces roughly half of Austin s drinkable water and is crucial to keeping the city s water system functioning.
State regulations require the plant to either have access to a backup power source or a substantial amount of water reserves in case the plant sees an unexpected shutdown. Ullrich has both.
So when a tree limb fell on an electric line leading to a substation that powered Austin s largest water treatment plant on Feb. 17, backups should have snapped into place to keep power running and water production churning.
But there was a problem: Nobody on site knew how to operate a 52-year-old gear switch that would have restored power to the plant.