Water Solutions Inc.
Public Water System COVID-19 Mitigation
This letter offers suggestions on ways to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the OPERATION of public water utilities. This is not a public health letter but a procedural plan to maintain the continued reliability of safe water delivery during this pandemic. All recommendations based on data as of 18th of March 2020.
Water Utilities will need to evaluate how to potentially operate with extreme staffing shortages. Several factors can influence this shortage including staff themselves being sick, caring for sick family members, caring for children who are home and self quarantine due to known exposure. Additionally, staff with underlying health issues will be more likely to become sick from COVID-19 and impact the staffing shortage. Older staff who fall in the at risk category, (over 60 years of age), should follow government recommendations to stay home which could increase the staffing shortage. While in other circumstances, retirees might be a great resource, the social distancing recommendations for older and at risk individuals for this pathogen will likely preclude using retirees.
Suggestions to consider during staffing shortage:
Evaluate what supplies are critical to your operation. In many cases it will be chlorine and/or treatment chemicals. Some years back the City of Phoenix, AZ had to issue a boil water order due to the lack of treatment chemicals, so it can happen to you.
Several steps to consider:
Many, if not all water systems depend on outside laboratories and courier services. Many of these labs are small operations and could easily experience backlogs or delays due to staffing shortages of their own. For example courier services typically have regional drivers who cover a specific route. Should that driver become ill, coverage could be interrupted. Not taking a required bacteria test can be a critical failure. Make sure you have TWO backup plans. I am recommending several actions:
a) Talk to your lab and develop a plan for:
b) Sign up for the Water Agency Response Network (free) and locate regional water utilities with inhouse testing abilities, ask if they can be part of your emergency plan.
c) State and Federal regulators have presence/absence bacteria and E.coli testing labs at their office. Call and talk to your regulator to include that in your emergency plan.
d) Print out maps of where your primary and secondary labs are located so that your staff can be prepared to drive samples to the lab.
e) Obtain additional sample kits (cooler, sample bottles, sample location maps, ice packs and chain of custody forms). Make sure everything is clearly labeled on the assumption that you may need alternate staff to perform these duties. Include a map of your sample locations (I like to have photos of the actual sample station).
3) Financial
It is likely that the economy will be challenged during this pandemic, impacting both staff and customers[1]. Customers may not be able to pay their bills and it is essential for water utilities to plan ahead for how to handle these situations. Staff may have family members who lose their jobs due to closing of business and thus further support for staff may be needed. Agencies may have staff who are unable to work and don’t have sick time is a foreseeable issue. In an extended scenero, water agencies may have cash flow issues. Some of these problems may be addressed at a Federal level, some at a state or regional level and some by the water district. You are encouraged to start the discussions and planning now.
The Center for Disease Control and State and local health departments are and should be the prime source for public health information. The Water Research Foundation’s report states that drinking water is not a vector and we can assure our staff and the public, if they ask, water plus a little soap remains one of the best methods of fighting the virus.
One issue that has already developed, is suppliers closing due to government requested/ordered shelter in place orders. Make sure you have key personnel phone numbers as suppliers for public utilities are exempt from the shelter in place order.
Water related information about Coronavirus:
The water research foundation has a free webinar you can watch which explains several key points. COVID-19 is a SARs virus which means:
The following sources were used to prepare this letter:
World Health Organization https://www.who.int/
Center for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/
Water Research Foundation https://www.waterrf.org/event/coronavirus-research-update (you must enter your email address (register) to view this webcast).
The New York Times, Coronavirus special newsfeed https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/coronavirus
John Hopkins Medicine https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus
EPA website https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus
This letter was written by Glenn Reynolds of Water Solutions Incorporated to provide suggestions for water utilities. You are encouraged to copy and distribute this letter.
179 West Point Avenue, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 ◈ Phone 650-204-9596
www.h2osolutions.com
[1] U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website 13 March 2020; NY times 17 March 2020
[2] World Health Organization