Defending outrage over water outage
Letters to the Editor
I feel the need to defend Woodcreek citizen outrage over a recent pump failure, and corresponding 24-hour water outage. Realizing Wimberley is making a painful wastewater decision, I commented in a community forum that we had no water and no input from Aqua Texas. The backlash in defense of AT was so furious that one gentlemen called their detractors “disgusting” and one young lady (who was unaffected) offered that I needed a bottle of vodka. To be very clear, most commenting were not without water at all.
Completely lost in the discussion were the salient points surrounding the emergency. As a 30-year project manager veteran, I was appalled to learn there was no failsafe in place for our water system. An AT employee commented that when the water tower was taken offline for painting, the redundancy in the system was also removed. When the pump failed, an entire area of Woodcreek was without water.
Anyone in project management understands the need for active, consistent risk assessment. Before taking any system offline, these risks must be qualified and quantified. Neither appears to have been done, before this painting project commenced.
Additionally, the only communication from AT came hours after our water was off, and was delivered only to those signed up for emails/telephone communication. And this communication was simply telling us a boil notice was in effect. This might have been helpful if we had any water!
Several commented on the heroic response by a couple of Wimberley ladies who delivered water to the Cypress Creek event center. This is wonderful, but not relevant to the outrage paying Woodcreek citizens had every right to express toward AT. Yes, systems break. But this is not a single-family residence on a septic system. We should not have to feel “grateful” that we have water most of the time!
We pay for this service and have every right to expect solid technology, risk management planning that is responsive to user needs, and communication. Turning on your neighbors who were suffering, because you support AT for a wastewater system is not healthy. Check your responses, this should not have been emotional if you were not without water.
Cordially,
Cynthia Jackson