Diver dies in Richmond, TX while cleaning water tank

[AggieDiver]

Diver found dead in Richmond water storage tank | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

No word on how the incident happened, but since it was commercial in nature, hopefully OSHA will end up investigating and we can find out a cause. Doesn't sound like very good procedure if the only way he could tell his buddy was in trouble was when the line went slack. Although if it was bad gas, he could have passed out and been unable to send a line pull signal.

 

[Superlyte27]

That's not good. I know a commercial outfit that does towers in TX in scuba. I'm texting the foreman now to see if it's his team.

 

[Cave Diver]

Some pretty insensitive replies in the comments section of that article.

 

[Superlyte27]

sad news

 

[AggieDiver]

Some pretty insensitive replies in the comments section of that article.

That is pretty much par for the course for the Chronicle unfortunately. There is a pretty dedicated group of trolls in their comments sections that seem to always try to outdo each other at being disrespectful and insensitive.

 

[AggieDiver]

I really like to know if it was Carl, if anyone has any info. There's not too many people doing water towers in SCUBA that I know of. I've got a few phone calls in. I'll update if I hear anything.

I will let you know if I see an update to the story. I hope it isn't your friend, but either way it is tragic. If you hear anything more about a cause, let us know if you can. But be careful about reposting anything you are told in confidence, because cases like this often end up in a coutroom and words can easily be twisted by lawyers.

 

[warmwaterturner]

From Channel 2 News Houston -

Richmond police said the man was working inside the a tank at the city's water facility in the 1400 block of Williams Way.

The man, who worked for Ron Perrin Water Technologies out of Fort Worth, was there to do routine maintenance on the tank, which is about 40 feet tall and holds 500,000 gallons of water, investigators said.

A diver entered the tank at about 9:15 a.m. and reached the bottom about three minutes later. A second diver went into the water at about 9:30 a.m. and noticed that the first diver's tether line was loose, police said.

The second diver went into the water and found the first diver at the bottom of the tank, unconscious and unresponsive, police said. The first diver had removed his mask at some point, investigators said.

As the second diver was assessing the situation, he had regulator problems and had to return to the surface.

The first diver's body was recovered at about 10:50 a.m., police said. His name has not been released, but detectives said he was 28 years old and from Arlington.

The cause of the drowning is under investigation.

 

[Superlyte27]

From Channel 2 News Houston -

Richmond police said the man was working inside the a tank at the city's water facility in the 1400 block of Williams Way.

The man, who worked for Ron Perrin Water Technologies out of Fort Worth, was there to do routine maintenance on the tank, which is about 40 feet tall and holds 500,000 gallons of water, investigators said.

A diver entered the tank at about 9:15 a.m. and reached the bottom about three minutes later. A second diver went into the water at about 9:30 a.m. and noticed that the first diver's tether line was loose, police said.

The second diver went into the water and found the first diver at the bottom of the tank, unconscious and unresponsive, police said. The first diver had removed his mask at some point, investigators said.

As the second diver was assessing the situation, he had regulator problems and had to return to the surface.

The first diver's body was recovered at about 10:50 a.m., police said. His name has not been released, but detectives said he was 28 years old and from Arlington.

The cause of the drowning is under investigation.

Dreadful

 

[AggieDiver]

Glad to hear it wasn't your friend. It will be interesting to see the OSHA report on this one...

 

[Superlyte27]

Ok... Yah, Here's what I know about OSHA and the commercial diving industry. Then you can compare that to the article in the news...

Must be surface supplied. Must have three man dive team. Must have COMS with the surface.