ages ago you had a stick....you smeared a special paste and it reacted...(changed color) when it encountered water..."Go Stick the Tanks" was how you kept track of your inventory and got a idea of how much water you had...nowadays...people have computerized inventory control...that doesn't know the difference between water and gas...just too lazy to go out aand take the minute and a half that it requires to find out

As a pilot one of the 1st things you do is sample your tanks to make sure there is no moisture in the system. It is very easy you push a specially designed plastic rod, a little thicker than a toothpick,into a port at the lowest part of the fuel tank. That pushes a plug up allowing fuel to drain into a specially designed test tube connected to the bottom of the rod. You then hold it up to the light and make sure there is no water in the fuel. I don't see what would be so difficult about developing a system allowing (or forcing) station employees to perfrom a similair test either daily or when a new attendant comes on shift. I have had this happen to me twice in my 25 years of driving and while it is a fairly easy to fix. However it is also a royal pain and can get pretty expensive.

i think the bigger question is: how did the water get in the underground tank? did it seep in through a flaw? is the filler cap/breather system faulty? did the recent heavy rains just inundate the filler and drain in? did it come from the truck that refills the tank? did someone steal some gas and replace it with water so the owner wouldn't detect any missing? is it out-and-out sabotage by someone who has a grudge against the store/owner?

This would make you wonder how many others have water in their cars gas tank that bought around the same time this lady bought hers. Surely it did not hit just the one car.

Most all gas tanks sweat...and most all gas tanks have water in the bottom...go out and check it everyday...yes the store is at fault as is the company that does there monthly monitoring...if you don't have the monthly monitoring done...thats just silly...the people with the car problems should sue the heck out of em...point here its a problem all over the world...that is successfully addressed everyday

I'm glad I don't buy gas there. I think I'll stay clear of there.

I'll bet it also has something to do with Ethanol. Ethanol is hydrophillic in that it attracts water, condensation and such. After it sits a while it settles out and you wind up with layering in the storage tanks. Then the pumps can actually pick up straight water and put that in your tank. Ethanol itself is not bad its the ability of it to pick up water that is bad. Only way to not be affected is to not use ethanol blended gas, and good luck finding some.

Sorry for the misspellings

The price we are having to pay for gas there should be no issues with the quality of it. Maybe they need to find a way to improve on the tanks that store the gas. I don't know enough about it to be able to comment on that part . I do know that the price of gas is ripping people heads right off their shoulders and causing the price of everything else to go up and we wonder why people can not survive on a good paycheck, not to mention a small one or none at all. Justr because the price is down for the moment dosen't mean much it is still too high and has already inflated the cost of every thing else. And we will not be see these gas prices forever . Here today gone this afternoon. They need to pay this lady for her car and for her time and stress. Nuff said !

fajitameat, the "filtration system" on cars only filters out particulate matter, it doesn't detect if the liquid passing through it is gasoline or water. I've never heard of a fuel filter that's designed to shut down an engine or of one even doing that unless it is so clogged with dirt or gas tank rust that no gas can get through and the engine starves for fuel. Who gave you these wacky ideas about automobiles? Anyway, the gas station owes these people some money as watery gas can ruin your fuel injectors right quick!