Hacker attack on water treatment plant.

originally posted by: crayzeed
I've got my crystal ball out and I can see the authorities finding the culprit. He's white, an owner of many guns but more importantly his posts on facebook shows he is a rabid Trump supporter, with many threats of insurrection.

My thoughts as well, see three posts up.

Our small town disconnected computers late Friday and they are still offline. Have to monitor with people till the state gives direction. Nobody's holding their breath, all employees are being trained to monitor the place but must be licensed to do anything other than call for help.

Going to get worse before it gets better.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

It could have been any of the things that have been mentioned.

My guess is another country... like ohh.. I don't know Russia? Will be blamed.

originally posted by: mikell
Our small town disconnected computers late Friday and they are still offline. Have to monitor with people till the state gives direction. Nobody's holding their breath, all employees are being trained to monitor the place but must be licensed to do anything other than call for help.

Going to get worse before it gets better.

For real? What was that all about?

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn
a reply to: DAVID64

My thought was that it was a test run.

I read a while back, around 2008, that the easiest way to take over a country, is to make the majority of the people sick, and to knock out their water supply.

I pray it was either a mistake or some disgruntled employee. Not that it would good, just that it is a less distressing alternative.

Most likely a former or current disgruntled employee who knew procedures, and yea they shouldn't be able to access computer control systems remotely.

They have been running dihydrogen monoxide through our water pipes forever. I am just used to it now.

Did they stop all water flow from these treatment plant?

Was the water actually contaminated and continued to be serviced?

Serious questions, if they knew the water was being tainted and did nothing to prevent the distribution of water, aren't they equally as guilty of crimes?

originally posted by: Nivhk
Did they stop all water flow from these treatment plant?

Was the water actually contaminated and continued to be serviced?

Serious questions, if they knew the water was being tainted and did nothing to prevent the distribution of water, aren't they equally as guilty of crimes?

I take it you didn't skim the article eh?

No, none of the lye-water left the system.
It still had several more stops and safety checks before heading out to the main lines.

Today in San Angelo TX they are telling people not to drink the water or even bathe in it... Nothing

And no explanation why

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask
Today in San Angelo TX they are telling people not to drink the water or even bathe in it... Nothing

And no explanation why

Saw this.

SAN ANGELO, Texas — The City of San Angelo issued a city wide warning to not use the water. The San Angelo Water Utilities Department received "numerous complaints about an unusual odor" in the tap water in the PaulAnn area.

According to the City, the odor is typically more noticeable when showering or washing your hands. The City said it sent a laboratory crew to speak to several residents and collect water samples in an effort to determine the cause and source of the odor. Water samples were shipped overnight to an independent laboratory to help determine the cause.

As a precaution, Water Utilities requests that you do not use the water citywide until the cause and source is determined. This includes bathing. Water can be used for flushing toilets or watering landscape.

The order also effects customers of the following water systems which purchase water from the City of San Angelo: Turquoise Water
Concho Rural Water Pecan Creek
City of Miles
Twin Buttes Water System
Concho Rural Water Grape Creek
Water Wagon Water Hauling Service
Goodfellow AFB
Red Creek MUD
Concho Rural Water – Water Hauling
Original Services Water Hauler
Millersview-Doole Water System

Test results should be available within 24-48 hours. If you have questions, call the Water Quality Lab at 325-481-2722.

As a result of the water warning, San Angelo ISD, Angelo State University and Goodfellow Air Force Base are closed on Tuesday. All restaurants are closed as well. The City said in order for food establishments to operate, they must have hot and cold running water under pressure.

Boiling water will not solve the issue because this is not a bacteriological issue. There will be no curbside meals at the senior center Tuesday.

San Angelo issues city wide 'Do Not Use' water warning, closures announced

a reply to: lordcomac
And how do we know this is an isolated incident?

If they're running similar systems across the country, why hit just one?

Edit: Just like how they'd only hit one Dominion voting machine.

But in the name of protecting democracy, eh?

As somebody who was operating in this field for a time the lye us used to balance the PH as mentioned by another user. In the case of a waste water treatment plant it's main use is to maintain the PH within favorable ranges for microbiable "digestion" of the liquid and fecal matters in the tanks. Human excrement is typically acidic and lye or lime are basic. Without favorable PH levels the useful bacteria are either ineffective or dangerous bacteria that produce toxic or flammable gases can take over to a dangerous degree. Additionally it helps ensure that the PH level of the water is closer to the environmental baseline when it's released into the local river or bay to preserve wildlife and ecosystems "downriver". It's another reason most modern plants have moved away from chlorine gas based treatment. And towards UV as it tends to harm all forms of aquatic life, and the operators in case of a leak or accident.

In plants like the one I worked at this can be incredibly dangerous to the operators. Hydrogen sulfide is the main concern as its both quite toxic and potentially explosive. For example you have to usually lower a probe into a tank at least twice a day from a catwalk that overhangs each tank to the middle in order to confirm correct calibration of the in tank sensors. If somebody falls in and there is an access hatch to save them policy is to not enter without reinforcements and hydrogen sulfide detectors because the gas can overwhelm you within seconds. Fun fact, if you fall into a tank with the aerator turned on you will lack any bouyancy and sink despite your best efforts.

Sadly this is an example of poor system design. I likely guess that the SCADA(Supervisory control and data acquisition) and outwards facing network weren't air gapped and allowed penetration into the SCADA control system. It's like hooking up a power plant SCADA system to the internet. There is a good reason you never do it. The other option is that somebody targeting a vulnerability in the local wireless network that is used to send and receive data from the main SCADA terminal to the stations across the facility. In many cases rather than run cables across an entire facility there are antennas that send and receive data across the facility.

Lastly this is definitely a sewage treatment plant/section of the facility due to the use of a strong base. While it is indeed eye opening and worrying this hacker would have caused enviromental/equipment damage at the worst. Any water taken in from this facility after release downstream would have been checking the PH of it's intake and noticed something was wrong. Even then in my experience there is a limit to the maximum of these compounds that can be added to the water. You only have so much flow per minute for the PH systems because you never expected to need an enormous amount relative to your intake volume during the facility design process. As its based on your maximum expected intake flow and retention times. At the facilities I worked at it would take several hours at a minimum to shift an entire point of PH even when cranked to maximum.

Oh and I'd like to say whoever dumped PCBs into the sewage system here is a true jerk.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: dawnstar

Why is lye used in water. In Aust we use fluoride which is bad emough

Could this have been a failed attempt to stop the Super Bowl from happening? It odd that it happened two days before the Bowl and not far from Tampa.

a reply to: Morbidlynx

It's true that they screen out stuff from the raw sewage intake, right? That things that get flushed and make it to the treatment plant can be recovered at that point?

I have heard of wedding rings being recovered that way and wondered if that were true.

ETA: I've also been told to never flush anything down the toilet but toilet paper, your urine and BMs, to not even flush old food, like say soup, down it. Of course there are cleaning compounds and the occasional vomit that get flushed into the system.

The systems i worked on were serviced by a rather menacing auger system before the flow reached the intake pit which essentially attempts to grind everything to bits but yes there is a coarse and fine screen system. The course screen is basically like a storm grate and the fine screen operates like an escalator made of mesh and an auger scrapes the fine screen and ejects it in a rather disgusting log. The log is usually composed by as much as 80-90 percent wetwipes (bane of many an operator.) And a lovely garnish of tampons, tampon applicators, and condoms. Occasionally there's a nice sprinkling of hypodermic needles and drug baggies, sometimes not empty.

Personally I never had a desire to hunt for "treasure" in a log. And the intake pit is never empty to go hunting for whatever might sink. Even if it was, I have no desire to go trudging through human sludge for buried treasure. It's bad enough shoveling sludge any other time. It's like slick, nasty mud. Granted by the time it gets sent through the sludge press its essentially dirt. There's probably lot's of "treasure" between the intake pit and massive pipes that lead to the digestive tanks. Even though I'm not claustrophobic every idea of being in a confined space with potentially toxic gas is enough of a reason. Plus the intake area is essentially raw and completely untreated. The biological hazard isn't massive but if you're going to get ill that's where it would happen.

I will say that yes, people find stuff all the time. I've personally seen a coworker scrap a fifty dollar bill off the screen still soaking wet and stick it in his pocket. Generally the heavier and less buoyant items sink to the bottom and collect over time in the bottoms of the pit and pipes and massive tanks. They eventually get obliterated by either the massive agitating motors that stir the tank or by the machinery of the numerous heavy pumps and other machinery. I dont know how many miles of pipe and the exact number of high volume pumps afterwards and it varies for every facility but if you will find anything it'll be in the earlier stages.

On a hilarious note one day somebody decided to send us a complementary shipment of bath towels down the pipes. No idea how they got it down the pipes. But the shear volume of textile materials all at one time bound the auger grinder up. after switching to an emergency bypass on that system I soent several hours cutting away towels and condoms using a large wrench to hand rotate the shaft containing the grinder mechanism. My co-worker at the time volunteered to give me a break and take over for a few minutes. He made the fatal error of trying to forcefully remove what seemed to be a horse sized condom by pulling on it. It then of course promptly tore and snapped him in the eye. He started gagging and I didn't see him for several hours. I think he was inside using the eyelash stations inside trying not to lose his lunch.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
a reply to: Morbidlynx

It's true that they screen out stuff from the raw sewage intake, right? That things that get flushed and make it to the treatment plant can be recovered at that point?

I have heard of wedding rings being recovered that way and wondered if that were true.

ETA: I've also been told to never flush anything down the toilet but toilet paper, your urine and BMs, to not even flush old food, like say soup, down it. Of course there are cleaning compounds and the occasional vomit that get flushed into the system.

a reply to: Morbidlynx

Holy Crap! (pun intended) I never knew that was what happened!

I'm almost sorry I asked. Your description of the process is very realistic, I can almost smell it as you described it.

In a properly run facility the only smell is in the intake area. It's sadly something you get used to.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
a reply to: Morbidlynx

Holy Crap! (pun intended) I never knew that was what happened!

I'm almost sorry I asked. Your description of the process is very realistic, I can almost smell it as you described it.