Most modern water plants are 'fully' automated. You shouldn't be in the business if you aren't. The issue is always going to be poor security.
There are a LOT of hacks in the business. It's usually government workers, after all. I mean there are a LOT of dumbasses in the water and wastewater business, top to bottom. I live it.
And that includes IT departments as well you may need to rely on.
But in the end, it is almost impossible to harm downstream users from anything you could do hacking into a water plant. High chlorine? No one's going to drink that crap coming out of the tap.
In this article they're claiming it was caustic soda they tried to up the dose on though. That stuff doesn't have a particularly strong odor like chlorine and chlorites.
You'll taste it immediately sure and only a dumbass would swallow it, but depending on how high they can push the limits, it could still be a pretty rough day for anyone who burns the inside of their mouth, or the poor bastards who step in the shower and spray that stuff directly onto their face and eyes with no safe running water to wash it off with.
On the plus side, the pipes would get a nice clean though.
Why is it fully automated, let alone connected to the internet with 0 security measures, in the first place?
Uncle Ted is right. Technology was a mistake
https://kotakuinaction2.win/p/12hRLbuAad/x/c/4Dx4eWTPxLj
There are a LOT of hacks in the business. It's usually government workers, after all. I mean there are a LOT of dumbasses in the water and wastewater business, top to bottom. I live it.
And that includes IT departments as well you may need to rely on. But in the end, it is almost impossible to harm downstream users from anything you could do hacking into a water plant. High chlorine? No one's going to drink that crap coming out of the tap.
You say that but people kept drinking the water in Flint, even after saying it came out brown or foul smelling.
Flint's main problem was lead. You don't taste that.
The smell of chlorine is 1 to 1 related to dosage.
This is my business, internet 'acktually' guy.
In this article they're claiming it was caustic soda they tried to up the dose on though. That stuff doesn't have a particularly strong odor like chlorine and chlorites.
You'll taste it immediately sure and only a dumbass would swallow it, but depending on how high they can push the limits, it could still be a pretty rough day for anyone who burns the inside of their mouth, or the poor bastards who step in the shower and spray that stuff directly onto their face and eyes with no safe running water to wash it off with.
On the plus side, the pipes would get a nice clean though.