1.5 million gallon water tank explodes in California

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DrHenley said:
No good answers yet.
A contractor was welding on it when it blew (and was killed).
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This happens all the time--to petroleum product tanks. Chlorine used to treat water is in powder form. You just sprinkle it in the tank---a water guy explained it to me. But the liberation of the chlorine gas occurs in the water. Chlorine may be the cause here but the findings should be made public.
 
Well that's freaky! Obviously the explosion had to be in the void at the top, but what fueled it, and sparked it off?
 
backandbeyond said:
Well that's freaky! Obviously the explosion had to be in the void at the top, but what fueled it, and sparked it off?
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What sparked it off was a contractor welding a flange onto the tank. He was killed. As far as I can tell, nobody knows what kind of flammable gas was in the airspace of the tank. Some have speculated that it was chlorine. They tested another identical tank nearby and did no find any flammable gas in it.
 
DrHenley said:
What sparked it off was a contractor welding a flange onto the tank.
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So I guess he was working up top. I wonder if it was water pumped up from underground, with methane or something in it? I remember reading about how some fracking outfit had poisoned the water supply of an entire town. You do so much drilling and whatnot there... I'll do a search of drilling activity in the area of the explosion.
 
I smell a coverup in the making lol.
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Lemoore (formerly, La Tache and Lee Moore's)[5] is a city in Kings County
--------------------------------------------------

2. Where is fracking being done in California?

Fracking has been documented in 10 California counties — Colusa, Glenn, Kern, Los Angeles, Monterey, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Sutter, Kings and Ventura.
-------------------------------------------------

3. How does fracking contaminate our water?

Fracking routinely employs numerous toxic chemicals, including methanol, benzene, naphthalene and trimethylbenzene.

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/california_fracking/faq.html--------------------------------------------------
Lemoore City Water
the Lemoore City Water collects water from 10 groundwater wells withdrawing from the aquifer beneath the King’s County area.
https://waterzen.com/water-providers/city-of-lemoore-water/-----------------------------------------------
Looks like a smoking gun perhaps Doc?
 
The plot thickens...

California officials have ordered an emergency shut-down of 11 oil and gas waste injection sites and a review more than 100 others in the state's drought-wracked Central Valley out of fear that companies may have been pumping fracking fluids and other toxic waste into drinking water aquifers there.
https://www.propublica.org/article/...g-waste-warning-may-be-contaminating-aquifers----------------------------------------------------------

Here is another link. But no one here will want to read it. tinyurl.com/8888r9ec
Mind you, if you have no love for California Shoot
 
My son has worked in the oil fields on an off in the past, sometimes as a welder He asked me about working in tanks (welding leaks) once and I told him never, under any circumstances, weld in a tank--no matter what.
 
Leemore, home of Harris Ranch, southern exit, nice rest stop and restaurant.
Northern exit, largest and smelliest cattle yard I have ever seen
Look to eccoterroists like PETA that have tried to shut it down for years.
 
"They aren't close to determining what caused the explosion...." bologna!

Hydrogen and oxygen do not create a black residual like that. What caused that was a (odorless) METHANE buildup in the tank, and the presence of oxygen in the form of air combined with red-hot steel caused the kaboom. Chlorine will not react in any way to form a black cloud like that, only hydrocarbons can. So, for whatever reason water was being stored there, there was also methane present and nobody knew it, until now. Contrary to popular belief, gasses like methane and propane are almost impossible to detect by the human nose, which is why additives like methyl mercaptain and other sulfur compounds are added (so home owners know if there is a leak). Naturally occurring gas vents do not have this intentionally added smelly compound and are only added when they are piped to a consumer willing to pay for it. Somebody hit a natural gas pocket and wants to hide their **** up for profit. They know exactly what happened and somebody will make milllions off of it!
 
MNwr786 said:
"They aren't close to determining what caused the explosion...." bologna!

So, for whatever reason water was being stored there, there was also methane present and nobody knew it, until now.
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It was a water tank for municipal supply. Fed from ground water.
 
I haven't been able to find enough information to make even an educated guess as to the source of the combustible gas. Uneducated wild guess would be naturally occurring methane. And when I say "uneducated" I mean the guess, not me. I have a PhD in Chemical Engineering.
 
backandbeyond said:
It was a water tank for municipal supply. Fed from ground water.
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Yes, I understand that. But do you see the orange color? That's combustion. Do you see the black color that follows? That's carbon resulting from the incomplete (oxygen deficient) combustion of a hydroCARBON gas, not chlorine. Sure, chlorine is a strong OXIDIZER, and mixed with a fuel, it can burn, but again, where did the FUEL come from? So, either someone wanted this guy dead and added a hydrocarbon fuel in the headspace of the tank, or naturally occurring methane leeched into the aquifer from the ground (I can only assume).

I'm guessing too.....
water tank 1.jpg
water tank 2.jpg
 
I'd also add that methane dissolves in water and can lead to explosions when it reaches its saturation point and exsolves (comes out of solution). It is possible the heat from welding led to the exsolvation, bursting the tank, and that reacted with air once the tank had ruptured leading to that minor combustion. It would explain all of what we see in that video. There be methane in that water for sure :) $$$$$ Again, I am guessing.

Edit: the first link in a quick search for methane exsolvation talks about methane in west virginias ground water too, so im not nuts
 

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I believe you’re likely into something about the methane buildup. I saw videos of peoples tap water in the kitchen igniting from fracking in the nearby areas. You do not want to live near anyplace that does fracking.
 
MNwr786 said:
That's carbon resulting from the incomplete (oxygen deficient) combustion of a hydroCARBON gas, not chlorine.

I'm guessing too.....
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Chlorine? I couldn't imagine how that would ever cause such a devastating explosion. My earlier posts reference all the fracking waste pumped into the ground around there, methanol, benzene, naphthalene, which are all flamable, some highly. But methane is just as likely the culprit.

Water quality can also be threatened by methane contamination tied to drilling and the fracturing of rock formations. This problem has been highlighted by footage of people in fracked areas setting fire to methane-laced water from kitchen faucets.
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/california_fracking/faq.html
Spooky stuff MN. Imagine your hot water system full of it.
 
backandbeyond said:
My earlier posts reference all the fracking waste pumped into the ground around there, methanol, benzene, naphthalene, which are all flamable, some highly. But methane is just as likely the culprit.
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Methanol is miscible with water and is not flammable unless the concentration reaches approx 50%. Super dangerous to be drinking in any quantity though. Benzene is only slightly soluble in water and, although cancerous, will not be flammable in the concentrations present. If I remember correctly, naphthalene is even less soluble in water and, its presence in water would not pose any fire danger. I think methane is the only possible culprit. Either it exsolved causing a rupture or enough of it off gassed slowly in the tank to raise the vapor concentration into its flammable range and the welding spot ignited it. I'm sure there are plenty of other nasties in the water, but I cannot think of a single one other than methane that could have done that.
 
Brent S said:
I believe you’re likely into something about the methane buildup. I saw videos of peoples tap water in the kitchen igniting from fracking in the nearby areas. You do not want to live near anyplace that does fracking.
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Methane also occurs naturally...but green new deal runs headlong into fracking...surprise.
 
radiogoon said:
Methane also occurs naturally...but green new deal runs headlong into fracking...surprise.
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I don’t think fracking is the cause of everyone’s problems, but I sure don’t want to pull water from a well anywhere near it.
 
It's been nearly a month and nothing in the news. A coverup to protect the reputation of the fracking industry I'll wager
 
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