It's been on my mind for some time to call my local water company and waste treatment plant to see what the state of their readiness is. Well I finally took some action today.

I found the names of the people to speak to, but they were both out today. I'm not sure about the water person, but the man from the waste plant had been at city hall earlier today on a meeting about it. I found this out from the man answering the phone there. And while I intend to call the main person back on Monday, the guy answering the phone seemed to have some knowledge of the situation, so I quizzed him a bit.

For you technical people, he said we have a "Contact stabilization system with extended aeration" He said there would be no problems, that they had replaced some software. He also said they had no embedded systems and that they do nearly everything manually already. I asked about contingency plans if the power goes out, and he said they have generators that they run every week. Since he's really not the person to talk to I didn't grill him in much more detail, I do have some other questions to ask, such as testing status. But I thought some of you more knowledgeable folks could off me some suggestions on any specific questions I should ask, beyond the obvious. Does anyone have knowledge about this type of plant,a nd can you confirm the "embedded" and "manual" statements? If there is any interest, I will post what I find out from both of them on Monday.

-- Sorry (Privacy@please.com), August 06, 1999

Answers

What I find odd is no matter what water utility you talk to, anywhere in the country, the answers are suspiciously the same. Maybe all water systems are created perfectly equal but that seems unlikely.

The answers you received are the same as I got her in Oregon City OR- CXlackamas Water District. I served for several months on the y2k advisory committee for Oregon City and never had a rep show although they were invited. More scary is the water company apparently was not communicating at all with our local hospital which does not inspire confidence. I think I can safely say the hospital was very uncomfortable with the situation. (This was as of June- perhaps it has changed but I haven't heard)

EC

-- EC (JHnck1776@aol.com), August 06, 1999.

I've not spoken with either because we have neither. If we had city water or waste treatment I would certainly would have.

As kids we went with dad to the waste plant to pick up fertilizer for the fields. The place was fairly open and the people friendly. You might consider setting up an appointment to meet with someone on-site to talk about your concerns and perhaps get a 5 cent tour to go along with the reassurances.

-- Gus (y2kk@usa.net), August 06, 1999.

Hi, Sorry--

Last year I wrote to one of our county's largest water authorities with my questions. Following is a transcript of my questions and the manager's responses. I liked that EC asked his water people whether they had a means to distribute water selectively for emergency purposes, to the local hospitals, for example, and if so, whether a written plan existed for doing so. That would be a good one to add. Obviously I have room to do some follow up here; thanks for calling it to my attention.

======

Beaver Falls Municipal Authority-- Public Water Service

The Authority's General Manager, Mr. James Riggio, has provided the following responses to our group's questions to him:

Have all of your hardware and software programs (billing, payroll, accounting, etc.) been completely remediated/replaced, tested, implemented and been found completely year 2000 compliant? If not, what work is under way, and what is its current status?

All have been tested. A few programs need to be changed. All work will be completed by March 1999.

Have you inventoried, assessed, remediated/replaced, and tested all embedded systems? If not, what is the current status of this work?

Yes

Do your computers interface with others outside the Authority? If so, have all interconnections been tested?

No

Have you received written verification from all your vendors that they are y2k compliant? If not, what are you doing to ascertain their status?

Most of the vendors have responded.

Do you have contingency plans to assure continued operation in the event that one or more key vendors fail in 2000?

Backup vendors for all. The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority's current policy is to maintain a stockpile of the various inventory items that are the most commonly used items.

What backup power systems are in place in the event that an extended (one week or longer) power failure occurs in our region?

Battery backup on AS400 processor.

What provisions have been made to insure fuel for the backup power system?

Fuel tanks on site, 3,000 gallons gas, 900 gallons diesel.

For how long will you be able to operate in the face of an extended regional power failure?

We draw our raw water out of the Beaver River. We process our drinking water at our Eastvale Plant and our New Brighton Plant. Our storage tanks located at various sites in our system hold a two day supply of water. We have a 4X water driven pump and generators at our Eastvale Plant which could be used to pump water without electricity. These are not a complete solution to a prolonged electrical outage.

The supply of water in our tanks would be greatly affected if fires would occur. So this area would be of great concern.

Who is your power utility, and what kind of priority do you have with them?

Duquesne Light, not sure about priority.

Do you plan to communicate your Year 2000 status to your customers? If so, when, and by what means?

Through consumer confidence reports.

Is the Authority working with others in the industry to prepare contingency plans in the event of Year 2000 disruptions and failures?

No

Have any government officials asked the Authority to cooperate with local contingency planning efforts in the event of Year 2000 disruptions and failures?

No =====

Hope that helps, Sorry.

-- Faith Weaver (suzsolutions@yahoo.com), August 06, 1999.

I asked my water company about 5 months ago what their plans were. They told me they were Y2K compliant and they also have a backup generator just in case. I asked them how long the generator can run before it shuts down and they said one week if people conserve water. I have stored water ever since that conversation.

-- H2Ofreak (H2Ofreak@H20freak.com), August 06, 1999.

Hi Sorry! I've been using privacy@please.com as my e-mail address on this forum for over a year. If you wouldn't mind, please pick another one so there is no confusion about who posted. Thanks!

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), August 06, 1999.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr near Monterey, California

I just posted about this at Cool, Clear Water.... I forgot to mention that I also asked whether there had been any contact from any government agency checking up or asking about how they were coming along. There hadn't been, she said.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage.neener.autospammers--regrets.greenspun), August 07, 1999.

i am my local water and sewr utility since i have well and septic and a way nto pump the well. mountainboy

-- mountainboy (hillbilly@yankeeland .com), August 07, 1999.