Every night before bed, Doris Robitaille begins her nightly routine. First, she turns on a noise canceling machine and rests it at the corner of her bed. She then clicks on the ceiling fan — pulling twice on the string. As she climbs under the covers, she inserts her ear plugs and lies down with one ear pressed into a thick, tempurpedic-type pillow, covering her other ear with another thick pillow. If that doesn’t work, she will get out of bed, walk outside and around the corner of the patio to turn on the pool pump.

Anything to cancel out the roar of the Ullrich Water Treatment Plant that sits just outside her West Lake Hills home.

Even with all the remedies, Robitaille, who lives with her 17-year-old daughter, says she has not gotten a good night’s sleep in years.

She is awakened by the sounds of trucks carrying heavy loads of materials to the plant in the middle of the night and often can’t get back to sleep. And forget trying to nap during the day, she said. A vibration that shakes off ornaments affixed to her windows and the humming of daily operations occur throughout the day.

Nearby Rocky River Road homeowners said while they do not experience the same noise inside their homes as Robitaille, the noise and lights from the plant make it unpleasant to sit outside and enjoy their yard.

After years of living with the constant noise and disruptions, Robitaille and her neighbors are speaking out in hopes that city leaders will find a way to resolve the nuisance.

"My bedroom backs up to the treatment plant, and whatever they’re transporting in the middle of the night is loud and I can hear through my window," Robitaille said.

VIDEO (sounds from her front yard) pic.twitter.com/1sKgaX8LCA

— Luz Moreno-Lozano (@LuzMorenoLozano) January 28, 2020

The Ullrich Water Treatment Plant, which sits less than a mile from West Lake Hills City Hall, provides potable water to thousands of residents, most situated south of the Colorado River and customers in Water District 10.

Producing 167 million gallons of water per day, the treatment of water is a 24/7 operation.

After being pumped from the river, the water goes through several treatment steps including screening, disinfection, coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and filtration to ensure that residents are provided with clean and safe water.

Mehrdad Morabbi, Austin Water operations manager, said this process can take several hours, lasting up to eight hours at a time, depending on the volume of water usage. On Jan. 16, the plant produced 60 million gallons of water and across all three water treatment plants, produced 105 million gallons of water that day.

"We don't operate a batch process; it's just continuous," Morabbi said. "This plant is designed to be able to produce water during winter when customer needs are 50% (of what) they are in the summertime. We ramp up our production seasonally, but certainly not hourly. We do change flows about once a day, and that is based on the customer’s needs and what the distribution system requires."

The majority of the operations happen inside the facility, Morabbi said, but there are activities happening during the day—aside from the treatment of water— such as the delivery of chemicals and materials and maintenance of the system that neighbors could be hearing. In the evenings, he said, the plant ramps down its operation.

Another operation that could echo to the surrounding neighborhood, he said, is the hauling of sludge.The plant produces 1 ton of sludge per million gallons of water during the filtering process. The process takes place throughout the day and requires the loading and weighing of 18-wheeler trucks.

"We do have some of that take place in the mornings and we try not to haul too much at night," Morabbi said. "To be good neighbors we try to preload the trucks so it does not make a lot of noise in the evenings."

The plant was built in 1969, Morrabbi said, when there were only a few homes in the area. As Austin has grown so has the demand for water and the footprint of Ullrich and the surrounding neighborhoods.

But while the plant’s operations have expanded toward the Rocky River Road neighborhood, the property lies within the Austin city limits. It is not subject to West Lake Hills city ordinances and does not have to comply with city rules including lighting, noise and work hours.

West Lake Hills Mayor Linda Anthony said the city has little power when it comes to regulating how the plant operates but hopes Austin will meet them in the middle.

"As two cities concerned about having an environment that is best for our residents, I hope we can work together to improve it," Anthony said. "And I'm optimistic that we can."

The West Lake Hills City Council passed a resolution in December to work with Austin to mitigate the issues residents are facing. Council Member Rhonda McCollough said the neighborhood has had periodic meetings with Austin to try to mitigate some of the issues, but nothing has been done. She said having the city’s support could help.

"This is a resolution that basically reshapes the 20-year experience of Rocky River Road," McCollough said. "The resolution attempts to ask the council to come together to support this neighborhood and be face to Austin and Ullrich as we move forward with mitigations."

Emlea Chanslor, Austin Water spokesperson, said Austin Water strives to be a good neighbor to communities surrounding its facilities and takes numerous measures to minimize disruptions, including limiting non-emergency maintenance work and deliveries to daytime hours; containing equipment inside buildings; and including noise and light reduction measures when building new and upgraded facilities.

"The Ullrich Water Treatment Plant provides drinking water to much of central and south Austin," Chanslor said. "The plant runs continuously 365 days a year to meet customers’ water needs.

Austin Water appreciates the opportunity to work with the City of Westlake Hills and neighbors to explore additional opportunities to minimize disruptions while continuing to provide high-quality, reliable water services to our 1 million customers."

For Robitaille, she hopes that solution will come in the form of a sound barrier wall, replacing the chain link fence that sits there now.

"I'm not unrealistic and thinking ‘can you just make it all go away?’" she said. "But I've got to be able to sleep."