News Briefs: Plumbers Spend 10 Hours Rescuing Kitten From Sewer Pipe

Also in this week's sewer and water news, a utility's water payment system is hacked, forcing customers to replace their credit cards

A group of plumbers recently spent 10 hours rescuing a kitten from a sewer pipe at a condo in Chicago. Some residents of the condo first heard its meows for help while drinking their morning coffee.

The kitten had fallen into an uncovered gutter line and found its way into the condo's sewer system. Hopeful of a rescue operation, the residents called a local plumber, who used a camera to locate the 6-inch pipe the kitten was in.

The plumbers saw a break in the pipeline that prevented their camera from moving through the pipe, and it was preventing the kitten from moving any closer to the camera. The plumbers told the residents they could fix the broken line and rescue the kitten at the same time.

The kitten, now named “Piper,” was adopted by the same residents who helped rescue him. Check out this video footage of the rescue/repair below: 

Utility's Payment System Hacked, Customers Replace Credit Cards

Water customers in San Angelo, Texas, recently were advised to replace their credit cards after the city’s online payment system was compromised by hackers.

An investigation discovered malware had been skimming credit card information from a contracted vendor’s server for two months. After the discovery, the utility shut off online payments until the system could be fixed.

 “Replacing a credit card is a hassle — we understand and apologize for that,” Water Utilities Director Allison Strube told San Angelo Live. “But we would much rather that inconvenience not be compounded by customers also having to clear unauthorized purchases. We have worked with our vendor to prevent this from happening again.”

Online payments were restored after the vendor updated its software, but it might take longer to restore the public’s faith in the city’s online payment process.

Tucson Accidentally Distributes Contaminated Water

Tucson (Arizona) Water shut down a treatment plant late last month after finding out it was distributing water contaminated with PFAS to thousands of residents.

Officials from the utility were sampling water at a location thought to be connected to the city’s south side treatment plant. However, the water was coming from other sources, according to Tucson officials.

Since making the discovery, utility staff has taken measures to reduce the level of PFAS contamination, but the city’s dependence on the wrong sampling point has drawn criticism from residents.



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