Probably because the earthquake knocked out water lines for a considerable distance around.
But the Woodlands residents would still need to form an association to manage and pay for water lines and hookups.
So designers are seeing under-the-counter microwaves, dishwashers set into drawers that match existing cabinetry, and in-cabinet coffee makers with their own water lines installed.
The Alamodome in San Antonio, water lines in New Jersey, and sewers in Germany have been purchased from and leased back to public authorities under these deals.
Smaller rural agencies can also access the data to maintain assets in the field like water lines, fire hydrants, trails, vegetation, wildfire mitigation areas, and more.
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Nationwide, 250, 000 water lines burst a year, or about one every two minutes, flooding and closing streets, interrupting water service, and requiring residents to boil water for safety, wrote New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg in a special series on water issues.
The Woodlands is an unincorporated area that was laid out with no rights of way for public water or sewer lines, and even the idea of extending a public water line to the area has created divisions.
After the state rejected the construction of another hard structure, park officials, working with environmentalists, came up with a Plan B: Move gas, water and sewer lines out of the risk zone.
It even cleans itself, running hot water through all the lines and nozzles every time you shut it down.
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In Missouri, the combination of high water and fallen power lines closed dozen of roads, snarling traffic on highways and side streets in the St.
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In corridors where workers gathered, water and electricity, phone lines and computers were in full use.
Last summer's event featured a high-ropes course, two zip lines, a water slide, and a lumberjack show.
The railways were privatised along similar lines to the water, energy and telephone markets and similar regulators exist in each industry.
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At the same time, Mr. Charoen began diversifying, developing lucrative soda-water and iced-tea lines and building up a sizable property portfolio that included prominent Bangkok hotels.
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Dirk Bowman watches with pride as we walk along an assembly line, while workers tweak and twiddle with lines of cylindrical water heaters at this General Electric plant in Louisville, Kentucky.
Meanwhile, downed power lines, leaking gas lines, broken water pipes and still-blazing fires have blocked the return of thousands of Southern Californians who fled their homes this week ahead of more than 20 wind-whipped wildfires.
They have set up protection rackets against the utilities companies by cutting power lines, damaging water pipes, destroying cellular telephone antennas and breaking into businesses, and then offering their "security services" to the firms and owners they have robbed in exchange for promises not to rob again.
What the city does have is contaminated standing water and soil, downed power lines and limited automobile fuel.
Five people in the seaside resort town of Gelendzhik were electrocuted after power lines collapsed into the water.
Unreliable water can impact both corporate bottom lines and jeopardize natural security, as two recent reports point out.
Katrina knocked out phone lines, power and water in Jackson and some people in the surrounding areas are still living without.
Regarding water consumption, the company is now building a water footprint management system along similar lines to what they have done for carbon.
Let me take you on a quick tour around the world and introduce you to just a few of the people and places Circle of Blue is finding on the front lines of a global water crisis.
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Coastal fisherman know that when a flock of seagulls is circling and diving into the sea a school of bluefish is often driving bait fish towards the surface and the anglers hasten to cast their lines into the frothy water beneath the screeching birds.
Looking up, he watched lines of icicles forming where water sluiced through cracks in the plaster.
Other passengers reported long lines waiting for food, water shortages and widespread boredom.
As rescuers battled to reach the remaining suvivors, food and water were being handed out to long lines of homeless survivors as mothers tried to comfort babies.
Like many cities, Greenwich has created a geographic information system - a map that shows all the hidden bones and arteries of modern civilization: water mains, storm sewers, utility lines.
That includes bridges and roads, drinking water and wastewater pipelines, levees, power lines, solid waste systems, and a host of other things.
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And when I got there, I found that even though there was no clean water and no electricity and day-long lines for gas at the pump, that people were really relieved that Saddam Hussein was gone.
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